Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
I honestly kind of assumed that you may have seen it because he was in it. I know you haven't seen all of his films, but, for some reason, that was one I thought you may have seen for sure.

I hope you like it. I think you will. It is a very good movie.
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I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe



I've mainly focused on films directed by Orson Welles. But slowly I'm watching all of his films. BTW my new avatar is from Macbeth 1948 with Orson. I haven't seen that one either, yet.



The Man with the Golden Arm has been on my watchlist for the longest time and I still haven't gotten around to it...I LOVE Eleanor Parker and I've heard she's amazing in it.



Ahh, interesting film, Captain. I watched Gods and Monsters awhile ago. I didn't know that James Whales was so influential in early Hollywood, especially with early Horror films.
I absolutely LOVED Gods and Monsters...I think Ian MacKellan and Lynn Redgrave were both robbed of Oscars.




The Mask (1994)
Director: Chuck Russell
Cast: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert
Genre: Comedy Fantasy
Length: 101 minutes

A mild mannered bank clerk, Stanley (Jim Carrey) finds an ancient mask that when Stanley puts it on, transforms him into a wild and zany, super-hero
. As a bonus it gives him the courage to talk to the girl of his dreams played by Cameron Diaz.

This film is brilliant! It does exactly what it intends to do, entertain.
It's a modern day take on that age old classic, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This time around it's done up in comedy stylings and takes its cue from slapstick cartoons. But it's more than just laughs it does have a story in the vein of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Jim Carrey was great in this, so was his dog Milo, cute dog! It never hurts to have a cute dog in a comedy. And hey
Cameron Diaz is no pooch either. This was her first major film and she's looking good.


Jim Carrey was at his comedic height here and the wildly over the top Mask character gave Carrey a chance to showcase his physical style of comedy, the man has a rubber face! But it's Jim Carrey the everyday nice guy that makes this film work. That's who we care about the guy without the mask. Most of us can relate to his likable, but none too confident character. He's the underdog and we root for him.

What more could you want from a comedy? The Mask is eye popping fun, with great characters and a story line that works well...and some catchy show tunes to boot. Cuban Pete never sounded better!




The Mask was made back in 1994 and for a film from that time it's special effects still look amazing today. This is just a fun for sillyness sakes type movie, enjoy it with popcorn!






Dazed and Confused (1993)
Director: Richard Linklater
Writer: Richard Linklater
Cast: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey
Genre: Comedy Drama

The far out adventures of junior and high school students on the last day of school in May 1976. Ablaze a cloud of smoke and beer drenched shirts these kids are going to make their last school day one to remember!

Dazed and Confused is an earlier work by a well respected writer/director Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Before Sunset)

I loved all of the great 1970s rock music and all the cool cars in this movie. There's lots of cool cars in this film. The four main characters in the photo above were all interesting. I would've liked to known more about where they came from and where they were going. But this is a free-form Linklater film with the emphasis on the visual action. There's not much focus on a traditional story line or character development. We simply observe these kids as they go about celebrating the end of the school year.



This film features some big name stars early in their careers:
Matthew Mcconaughey, Adam Goldberg, Milla Jovovich and Ben Affleck. Keep your eyes peeled when watching this one.

I'm not sure if anybodies school days was ever this riotous. Sure it's the late 1970s but there's a lot of stuff happening, from hazing of the jr high students who are coming to the high school in the following year, to parties and wild times and fast cars. But then again this is a comedy and stuff like this did happen, Relax and groove on.




Dazed and Confused was one of those movies I really didn't care for when I first saw it. But it kind of grew on me with subsequent viewings.
The time period in the movie would have been perfect for my older brothers to relate to, but I was in grammar school in the mid 70's and just starting to get into comic books. Still it reminds me of a lot of what I remember from observing my brothers' lives at the time.



Dazed and Confused is my favourite Linklater film just slightly ahead of Before Midnight. Glad to see you liked it Citizen, i would've guessed you'd give it at least a popcorn box less. Then again i remember you really like American Grafitti so i could see why you enjoy the music and cars



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Haven't seen either Miracle or Golden Arm and very curious to see them now

Mask is a favorite of mine and you nailed what makes this a fun movie to see.

Surprisingly I never saw Dazed and Confused even though that described my high school daze beautifully. In '76 I was in 6th grade and had an older brother who graduated that year. We lived directly across from school - literally, I'd walk down by driveway, across the street and up the sidewalk to the front doors and was late EVERY day - any ole poop, there were SO MANY guys who smoked their tires that year you could walk 2/3 of the block staying on skid marks the entire time.
For me and another older brother who graduated in '80, I was '82, it was lawn jobs. Tore the HELL out of the front lawn of our school.

And speaking of Drive Ins that was a wonderful place for growing up and being a teen ager. I remember that the refreshment stand was about mid point and everyone in front of it, closer to the screen, were families and behind, and to the back wall, were teenagers and dates.
I drove a '76 pontiac station wagon as a first car and you could fit a single mattress in the back with the seats down. . .
My first memories of movies were at Drive Ins. The first one was Romeo and Juliet and the second was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as a wee, itty bitty kid.
There were always two movies and the first movie would be shown a second time for late nighters. They even had heaters the same size as the speakers that we'd use during the winter.



I love Dazed & Confused, but I'll have Slacker and Before Sunrise before it.

Cameron never looked better than she did in The Mask.
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5-time MoFo Award winner.



Dazed and Confused...I was in grammar school in the mid 70's and just starting to get into comic books. Still it reminds me of a lot of what I remember from observing my brothers' lives at the time.
I was just about the same age as the youngest character in the film, the guy on the right who was going from Jr high to High school. I swear had this silk print button up shirt that looked just like the one in the photo. My hair was long too by the time I graduated.

Dazed and Confused is my favourite Linklater film just slightly ahead of Before Midnight. Glad to see you liked it Citizen, i would've guessed you'd give it at least a popcorn box less. Then again i remember you really like American Grafitti so i could see why you enjoy the music and cars
It's not really the cars or the music that I like about American Grafitti and Dazed & Confused..it's that those films remind me of my youth. I had a muscle car when I was in school and went cruizing all the time and it was pretty wild too, jammed packed road with racing down the back side of town and lots of girls, lots of cool cars. My first party in high school was a kegger in the woods, very much like the scene in Dazed & Confused.



...In '76 I was in 6th grade and had an older brother who graduated that year. We lived directly across from school - literally, I'd walk down by driveway, across the street and up the sidewalk to the front doors and was late EVERY day - any ole poop, there were SO MANY guys who smoked their tires that year you could walk 2/3 of the block staying on skid marks the entire time.
For me and another older brother who graduated in '80, I was '82, it was lawn jobs. Tore the HELL out of the front lawn of our school.
Ha! I 'burned out' 'leaving my mark' as we called it that my tires became bald, so bald that it blew out on the freeway. Which is not at good thing to have happen.




The Big Lebowski (1998)
Directors/Writers: Coen Brothers
Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore,. Steve Buscimi
Genre: Comedy
Length: 117 minutes

This is one of those films that have a buzz around it. It's a quirky, anti-hero, anti-establishment cult film, the type of film I usually love.

But I found The Big Lebowski to be a disappointment. I did like the character of the Dude and Jeff Bridges did a good job with what he had to work with. I even liked the idea of the film too, but the dialogue felt artificial and lazy. There's a lot of dialogue too. The dialogue doesn't gives us insight into the characters or move the story along. I was left with the feeling that the characters were one dimensional and I wanted them to be more.

It's like the Coen Brothers had one idea only...'lets get a stoner surfer dude...dress him in a house coat, shorts, dark sun glasses and put a drink in his hand...then we'll hire Sam Elliot to stare into the camera and deliver a manufactured catch phrase that the audience will eat up and repeat....The Dude Abides, The Dude Abides'...that felt like a cheap manipulation.



Steve Buscemi would have been interesting had he been given something to do, he's wasted in this film. Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman are bright spots.



John Goodman tore up the screen with his mega loud performance, drowning out the other actors,...damn he was annoying! And I usually like him in movies too.

With a tighter script this film could have had a 'wow' factor to it and been something special. Think about how Tarantino has his characters talking about nothing important and yet the dialogue flows like butter...and in what Tarantino's characters say, they give us insight into their lives and that puts flesh on their bones. I wish the Coens would have invested more effort in fleshing out their script.






Life of Brian (1979)

Director: Terry Jones
Writers: Monty Python troupe
Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
Genre: Historical Spoof Comedy
Length: 94 minutes

Brian of Nazareth is born on the same day as Jesus. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. Through accident he joins a political resistances movement to drive the Romans out of Judea. When he bumbles that, he ends up gathering a religious following.

If you love ancient history...and who doesn't?...Life of Brian nails it
! The Monty Python comedy troupe travels back in time to intelligently spoof the life of a mistaken messiah, Brian.

One of the highlights of the film is the amazing on location sets. Most of the exteriors were shot in Tunisia. The gladiator fight scene was shot in the ancient ruins of the Amphitheater in Carthage...how cool is that! It looks great in the movie, but this photo doesn't do the scene justice.



And the 'fortress' photo at very top is the ancient Ribat Monastir in Tunisia built around the Byzantine era. Other desert scenes were filmed out in the sun drenched lands of Tunisia.

The film looks great with all these historical sites. But it's the cutting edge satire that takes a critical look at a contemporary of Jesus, a man named Brian. Brian's not to bright and has a knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought it was clever how they combined actual history from occupied Judea, along with Biblical narrative to tell the tale of Brian.

During the Life of Brian I laughed out loud, which is also a good thing. The film is funny-witty, not funny slap stick, though the Monty Python troupe can be quite silly in a fun way.



Some people have the mistaken idea that this film mocks Jesus, it doesn't. It's respectful of the subject matter while being darn funny. This is my favorite of all the Monty Python movies.

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But I found The Big Lebowski to be a disappointment.
You just elevated yourself to one of the best people on this forum in my eyes.



You just elevated yourself to one of the best people on this forum in my eyes.
Funny thing is I saw the Big Lebowski in the theater when it first came out. I remember that the friend I saw it with seemed to really like it, but I didn't think much of it and pretty much forgot about it by the next day.

Years later I hear all these people talking about it like it's this epic cult film. I couldn't help but think, "what did I miss? I don't even remember it." All I could remember was that there was something in it about bowling and Jeff Bridges floating.

Now, this isn't a comment on the Coen's because I also saw Fargo in the theater when that came out and really liked it - I can still remember almost the whole movie to this day.



You just elevated yourself to one of the best people on this forum in my eyes.
Funny thing is I saw the Big Lebowski in the theater when it first came out. I remember that the friend I saw it with seemed to really like it, but I didn't think much of it and pretty much forgot about it by the next day.

Years later I hear all these people talking about it like it's this epic cult film. I couldn't help but think, "what did I miss? I don't even remember it." All I could remember was that there was something in it about bowling and Jeff Bridges floating.

Now, this isn't a comment on the Coen's because I also saw Fargo in the theater when that came out and really liked it - I can still remember almost the whole movie to this day.
There are Coen movies that I like. But I really don't get Big Lebowski.

The only thing I liked somewhat was Walter -- John Goodman's character. But I like John Goodman in just about anything. The rest of it... I don't get. It's not funny. It's not interesting. I can't stand the other characters. It's boring. It's gotta be the worst Coen thing I know. I haven't seen Fargo. It never really intrigued me -- so I'd bet I wouldn't like it -- but can't say for sure.



Well, Fargo is now considered a classic of sorts (maybe a quirky classic).
Fargo is all about the characters, but it's also a crime thriller and a comedy (kind of). There's pretty much nothing I can say about it to make it sound interesting, but it's very entertaining. It's got a pregnant lady police chief who's almost Columbo-like in her doggedness, a great cast and a sometimes hilarious glimpse at North Dakota culture (before this film, I didn't know North Dakota had a culture!)

It still doesn't sound interesting, I know ... but somebody gets put through a wood chipper!