Okay, so there we go. I think you've said it better than I did. The "reality" itself feels too much like fantasy, so the contrast between the two realities doesn't feel heightened enough. And unfortunately
since they are the same reality that makes internal sense
since they are the same reality that makes internal sense
. but it dings the conceit a bit. Like the hotel scene. "Hey, man, that hot woman is obviously a fantasy! Clearly reality is that you are married to . . . .this equally hot woman who thinks you're a sex machine".
Opinions are, in order: Loved it! Meh! Haven't seen it but feel like I have, do I really need to watch the whole thing?
I think if the film had donned a serious tone, it would bother me more but as it has its tongue firmly placed in cheek, it almost dons a meta-quality about narrative construction and film as fantasy. The opening shots of Arnold jackhammering and being macho have a degree of camp that lets those boundaries effectively blur. Given Verhoeven’s penchant for the fantastical and campy, I’m inclined to view it as a deliberate choice. Especially as it adds a layer of irony with “even THIS guy married to THIS gal needs to escape into a fantasy?”
Stages of forgiveness in order:
Forgiven! Forgiveness revoked! Forgiveness still possible if you rectify not having seen Showgirls and rightfully love it as the magnum opus of big budget Hollywood camp that it is. If you find it a difficult watch, track down a copy with the David Schmader commentary. He really gets to the essence of what makes Showgirls sensational.
It pairs nicely with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Road House.
Prime Time (Jakub Piatek, 2021) 6/10 Mr. Hikita, I Am Knocked Up (Tôru Hosokawa, 2019) 5/10 The Last Circus (Álex de la Iglesia, 2010) 6/10 Hatred (Wojciech Smarzowski, 2016) 7/10 During WWII, a young Polish woman witnesses what feels like all the atrocities. The Little Ark (James B. Clark, 1972) 6/10 Adiós Amigo (Fred Williamson, 1975) 5/10 Let Freedom Ring (Jack Conway, 1939) 5.5/10 Ah Wilderness! (Clarence Brown, 1935) 6.5/10 In 1906, the mother (Spring Byington) and newspaper editor father (Lionel Barrymore) of two boys (Frank Albertson & Eric Linden - a third, Mickey Rooney, isn't shown) are worried that Linden, the class valedictorian, might say something embarrassing about America at his upcoming commencement speech. Maso and Miso Go Boating (4 Directors, 1975) - 6.5/10 De Sade (Cy Endfield, 1969) 5/10 Space Probe - Taurus (Leonard Katzman, 1965) + 4.5/10 1776 (Peter H. Hunt, 1972) 7/10 John Adams (William Daniels), Benjamin Franklin (Howard Da Silva) and Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) sing while devising the Declaration of Independence. Crypt of the Living Dead (Julio Salvador & Ray Danton, 1973) - 5/10 Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Lili Horvát, 2020) 5.5/10 House of the Living Dead (Ray Austin, 1974) - 5/10 The Promoter AKA The Card (Ronald Neame, 1952) 7/10
Alec Guinness is a very clever young man, especially at making money and charming the ladies. The Curse of the Living Corpse (Del Tenney, 1964) 5/10 Monstrosity AKA The Atomic Brain (Joseph V. Mascelli, 1963) - 4/10 Violent Midnight AKA Psycho-mania (Richard Hilliard, 1963) 5/10 The Time of Their Lives (Charles Barton, 1946) - 6.5/10 In 1946, a seance is performed where two ghosts (Lou Costello & Marjorie Reynolds) have been condemned since the days of Benedict Arnold. In fact, one of the participants (Bud Abbott - far right) is the descendent of one of Arnold's compatriots.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden My IMDb page
I was never much of a fan of his before but Bo Burnham’s new special “INSIDE” is a masterpiece. One of those works that pushes the boundaries of stand-up and one-man-shows to their limits and stretches the language of it until it bleeds into the experimental, avant garde, and documentarian.
I mean, I have thought pretty much word to word that about American Psycho, especially with friends in investment banking circles - and so do they, at the time it was a running joke… same with The Wolf of Wall Street - they’re often psychopaths, but at least they’ve got a yacht/Lambo to shipwreck/crash. Don’t see anything odd about this response at all.
So to me that’s a perfectly possible reaction. The stuff about ‘poor comprehension’ is…. Loaded. I’ve always found it amusing how some creators think they can predict the response to their ideas/characters a 100 per cent. Same goes for critics. You and I were discussing Holmes just a few days ago, who continues to be perceived very differently than the author intended. I don’t see why an investment banking intern wouldn’t be jealous of Patrick’s apartment or an aspiring influencer appreciative of Elaine’s looks and lifestyle. If you set aside the witchcraft, many women live pretty much exactly like she does, engaging in constant manipulation - and many men too. It can even be a job. I wouldn’t even be so sure that they’re all so terribly unhappy.
Yes, she is a horrible person, so what? Walter White is a horrible person, does that make him any less of an alpha male?
No, but Walter wasn't actually that much of an alpha male on the whole, at least not as much as the minority of people who manage to idolize him (meanwhile acting like Skyler was the "real" villain; gimme a f ucking break) insist. He did do some alpha stuff, obviously, but it was necessary to show that for us to understand the rush he got from his "new career" and why he became addicted to it, but for every "alpha" thing he ever did, he did something else to undermine it; even the episode which started out with him in one of his most alpha moments...
impotently unable to coerce the information he needs out of Mike, getting his decisions verbally dressed down by him in response, leading him to ambush Mike like a coward because his ego got bruised, before he immediately admits that he could've gotten that info from someone else, and that he didn't need to attack Mike at all; hardly the portrait of a badass, if you ask me.
impotently unable to coerce the information he needs out of Mike, getting his decisions verbally dressed down by him in response, leading him to ambush Mike like a coward because his ego got bruised, before he immediately admits that he could've gotten that info from someone else, and that he didn't need to attack Mike at all; hardly the portrait of a badass, if you ask me.
No, but Walter wasn't actually that much of an alpha male on the whole, at least not as much as the minority of people who manage to idolize him (meanwhile acting like Skyler was the "real" villain; gimme a f ucking break) insist. He did do some alpha stuff, obviously, but it was necessary to show that for us to understand the rush he got from his "new career" and why he became addicted to it, but for every "alpha" thing he ever did, he did something else to undermine it; even the episode which started out with him in one of his most alpha moments...
impotently unable to coerce the information he needs out of Mike, getting his decisions verbally dressed down by him in response, leading him to ambush Mike like a coward because his ego got bruised, before he immediately admits that he could've gotten that info from someone else, and that he didn't need to attack Mike at all; hardly the portrait of a badass, if you ask me.
impotently unable to coerce the information he needs out of Mike, getting his decisions verbally dressed down by him in response, leading him to ambush Mike like a coward because his ego got bruised, before he immediately admits that he could've gotten that info from someone else, and that he didn't need to attack Mike at all; hardly the portrait of a badass, if you ask me.
This is a separate discussion, wouldn’t you agree? I think ‘badass’ is on the whole a positive term, whilst ‘alpha male’ (especially in my context above) was intended to mean someone high on power. I don’t think WW is a coward, especially not in the later seasons, so I don’t necessarily agree with most of the above. Again, I feel like people don’t acknowledge that things can be read differently. I’ve seen BB circa 9 times and every single time I think in a completely fresh, calm, rational way, Hell, this man has guts. In my view, if he can be referred to as a ‘coward’, at all, that’s only in early Season 1. But I wouldn’t use that term. The way he
Again, your statement above is framed as if that’s the ‘ultimate’ truth. As I keep saying re: Biller, feminism, and whatnot, you can’t rely on authorial intent all the time! I have watched BB with about 8+ different people in my lifetime and we all generally think he is an alpha male if only because he has the guts to do all of this,
In the near-ish future, Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is living a mundane life with his gorgeous wife, Lori (Sharon Stone). But when Doug goes to have a Mars vacation implanted in his mind, something goes very much awry, and Doug realizes that his life isn't really his life. Suddenly on the run from a host of baddies led by a man named Richter (Michael Ironside), Doug seeks answers by going to Mars. Once there, he connects with a woman named Melina (Rachel Ticotin) who Doug had previously encountered in a dream.
This movie was a big old mixed bag for me, with some real highs and some frustrating lows.
To begin with, the film has some great visuals and some really stellar practical effects and makeup. There are fun character designs and a really neat setpiece (pictured at the top of this review) in which Doug hides inside a robotic woman in order to pass through customs on Mars. Something that bugged me a bit, though, was that once the film was good at an effect, it was used over and over and over. Did someone involved in production have stocks invested in the glass they use for stunts? In all seriousness, I'm not sure I ever watched a film with so much shattered glass: people jumping through plate glass, bullets shattering windows, people punching out windows, etc. Likewise, the film was in love with the main character getting kicked in the groin, like, why?
Storywise, my favorite part of the film was the middle third, where the question is raised as to whether these events are really happening, or if they are a part of Doug's fantasy. The question lingers over the whole film in a neat way. Because Doug doesn't know who he really is (and by extension what he has done in the past), there is a ton of uncertainty that permeates the film in terms of who Doug can trust or whose side he should be on.
Acting wise, everything is really over the top, and since that's consistent, it didn't bother me too much. I did get a bit tired of the one-liners, despite understanding why many people love them or find them quotable.
Unfortunately, though, this was one of those sci-fi films that betrays a weird lack of imagination in certain respects when it comes to the future. I remember computers from the late 80s/early 90s. And the computers in this film . . . look a lot like them. This future is super clunky and a lot of things are analog that just don't make sense.
But it's an aesthetic that fits the tone of the film so well; it's an unapologetically pulpy, trashy bit of Sci-Fi/Action, so it has the look to go with that (which is far superior to the slicker but more generic future that Len Wiseman's pointless remake provided). I mean, I love the way that 2001still still looks like it takes place in the future, even twenty years after the actual year it was set in, but I don't think that sort of aesthetic would suit Total Recall as well, and vice versa, you know?
During the Second Boer War, just as fighting was becoming particularly dirty, English born Harry "Breaker" Morant and two Australian Bushveldt Carbineers were put on trail for the murder of Boer prisoners. The court-martial had a purpose to it - a German missionary had been shot dead, and Germany was bringing a lot of pressure on the British to make amends. It wasn't as simple as it set out to be. Major James Francis Thomas, ordered to be the soldier's defense counsel, put up an impassioned fight. But could he stop an entire empire from getting what it was determined to get? - Just a few soldiers lives to appease the German government.
A big movie in it's day, and one that kept the 'legend' of the breaker, Harry Morant, in the public eye. Morant was a poet and horse breaker and all around hard-edged character. In this film he's portrayed, very well, by Edward Woodward. Jack Thompson won a Best Supporting Actor at Cannes - the first ever given. The rest of the cast is replete with all the best known actors in Australia at the time. The film gives a good sense of the dirty campaign. The Bushveldt Carbineers had just been ordered to take no prisoners. It's interesting in this how much the "we were only following orders" defense is rolled out - considering how we don't accept that as a defense these days. But it's the actors who carry this on it's shoulders. Great performances everywhere. Beresford was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay he wrote - and would later be nominated for directing Tender Mercies and direct Driving Miss Daisy.
Special Features - A documentary called The Breaker which looks a thousand years old. It uses the same stock footage over and over. An interesting look at the figure Morant, his poetry and reputation - but it can get painful to watch. There is also The Myth Exploded - Director's Postscript in which an old letter from the 1920s is brought to our attention - it describes the murder of the German missionary, the Reverend Heese. I don't think any myth is particularly being exploded - the letter still fits in pretty neatly with the film. There's a trailer. Slideshow and photos - many photos.
Comparisons to Paths of Glory are/were inevitable.
I can't claim to know much about Sámi people at all. Indigenous Northern Scandinavian people? When it came to measuring these people's skulls and such I was reminded of Nazi Germany espousing how 'lower races' have differing proportions. Looks like the Sámi are discriminated against as much as any other ethnic race. This film follows Elle-Marja as she tries her damned hardest to escape her people (and what they're forced to do) and join mainstream society.
Some scenes made me particularly uncomfortable - such as one where the 14-year old girl is forced to strip naked in front of all the others. As if that's not bad enough, a bunch of older boys (who always bully her) are at the window, quick to make the humiliation horribly worse. Later, as she attempts to stand up to them, she has part of her ear cut off. Nothing makes her take a backward step however. Soon she is sexually active and trying to enroll in a normal school - hoping to live with her boyfriend. She's soon back out on the street.
A lot of racial stuff here - about being inferior in every way. I never thought I'd see a film where white people are treated to horrible racist abuse from other white people. If there aren't any different looking people around we'll just grab the neighbours and put them down. Good movie though.
I watched the series "Origin". The plot is not bad, the special effects are good, but it clearly reminded me of the movie "Alien". In general, you can see it, but not a masterpiece.
The "reality" itself feels too much like fantasy, so the contrast between the two realities doesn't feel heightened enough... "Hey, man, that hot woman is obviously a fantasy! Clearly reality is that you are married to . . . .this equally hot woman who thinks you're a sex machine".
My first thought watching this was who has pictures of Russell Crowe having sex with the family dog. A young woman who has life issues of her own makes the mistake of beeping at an already completely "unhinged" Russ at a traffic light. The rest of the movie is him toying with and pursuing her with bad intentions. This is an incredibly dumb movie that I may have hated had I watched it alone. My wife picked it out, and her and I had a good deal of fun laughing throughout. I was surprised at the violence in the film which was quite nasty.
During the Second Boer War, just as fighting was becoming particularly dirty, English born Harry "Breaker" Morant and two Australian Bushveldt Carbineers were put on trail for the murder of Boer prisoners. The court-martial had a purpose to it - a German missionary had been shot dead, and Germany was bringing a lot of pressure on the British to make amends. It wasn't as simple as it set out to be. Major James Francis Thomas, ordered to be the soldier's defense counsel, put up an impassioned fight. But could he stop an entire empire from getting what it was determined to get? - Just a few soldiers lives to appease the German government.
A big movie in it's day, and one that kept the 'legend' of the breaker, Harry Morant, in the public eye. Morant was a poet and horse breaker and all around hard-edged character. In this film he's portrayed, very well, by Edward Woodward. Jack Thompson won a Best Supporting Actor at Cannes - the first ever given. The rest of the cast is replete with all the best known actors in Australia at the time. The film gives a good sense of the dirty campaign. The Bushveldt Carbineers had just been ordered to take no prisoners. It's interesting in this how much the "we were only following orders" defense is rolled out - considering how we don't accept that as a defense these days. But it's the actors who carry this on it's shoulders. Great performances everywhere. Beresford was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay he wrote - and would later be nominated for directing Tender Mercies and direct Driving Miss Daisy.
Special Features - A documentary called The Breaker which looks a thousand years old. It uses the same stock footage over and over. An interesting look at the figure Morant, his poetry and reputation - but it can get painful to watch. There is also The Myth Exploded - Director's Postscript in which an old letter from the 1920s is brought to our attention - it describes the murder of the German missionary, the Reverend Heese. I don't think any myth is particularly being exploded - the letter still fits in pretty neatly with the film. There's a trailer. Slideshow and photos - many photos.
Comparisons to Paths of Glory are/were inevitable.
7/10
This was one of the first "serious" movies I ever really fell in love with and it was my favorite movie for a year or two when I was a teenager. I think Woodward and Brown are so excellent in this film and the climactic scene and quote were just the kind of thing that would turn me into a cinephile. And then I always loved Morant's toast in the flashback, "Live every day as if it were going to be your last. One day you're sure to be right."
I actually went to the movie theater yesterday. I saw Summer of Soul. It was a documentary of The Harlem Music Festival of 1969. It had all kinds of fabulous acts from Blues, (BB KIng),to Jazz (Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach)to Motown (David Ruffin) to Latin flavored music (Mongo Santamaria) to Gospel.(Mahalia Jackson) among many others. My sister was so worked up she started crying so it can be emotional for old heads.
4.5/5
I actually went to the movie theater yesterday. I saw Summer of Soul. It was a documentary of The Harlem Music Festival of 1969. It had all kinds of fabulous acts from Blues, (BB KIng),to Jazz (Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach)to Motown (David Ruffin) to Latin flavored music (Mongo Santamaria) to Gospel.(Mahalia Jackson) among many others. My sister was so worked up she started crying so it can be emotional for old heads.
4.5/5
I Tre Volti Della Paura / Black Sabbath (1963, Mario Bava)
Classic horror anthology with some gorgeous Technicolor cinematography, sets and makeup. Great use of color and lighting.
The third and final story "The Drop of Water" is definitely my favorite.
I Tre Volti Della Paura / Black Sabbath (1963, Mario Bava)
Classic horror anthology with some gorgeous Technicolor cinematography, sets and makeup. Great use of color and lighting.
The third and final story "The Drop of Water" is definitely my favorite.
Love this movie.
I saw the AIP version, which has "The Drop Of Water" first, then "The Telephone", and finishes up with "The Wurdelak". So TDoP sets the hook, then Telephone seems oddly out of tone given that it was re-worked as a supernatural thriller for American audiences, then Wurdelak is the climax/finale, which works as a capper, honestly. Apparently the AIP version is also less violent, less sexual, and has a different score.
I really need to see the Italian version.
PS - Wow, it turns out the wraparound (Karloff talking to the camera) in the version I saw was shot in Los Angeles by an unknown director, not in the original version at all.
That reason is Terminator, T2, Predator and Conan. But TR falls nicely alongside his next tier of greats with True Lies and Commando.
Yeah, Conan would be my number one Arnold film going away, followed by The Terminator, then some random selection from True Lies, T2, Total Recall, and probably The Running Man (which I enjoy more than most people). I'm less of a Predator fan that a lot around here.
Yeah, Conan would be my number one Arnold film going away, followed by The Terminator, then some random selection from True Lies, T2, Total Recall, and probably The Running Man (which I enjoy more than most people). I'm less of a Predator fan that a lot around here.
I’d put Running Man at the top of his next tier (good movies), alongside things like Red Heat, Raw Deal and the Last Stand (I defend it!).
What do you have against Predator? I struggle to think of a more perfectly crafted blend of action, sci-fi and horror. It’s even my favorite from McTiernan.
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