Watching Movies Alone with crumbsroom

Tools    





Given that my house is still currently in shambles and I’m having to be more cautious (I’d also just gotten the Dawn of the Dead and Django 4K), I only got the 4K of Beastmaster and Night Train to Terror. I ALMOST bought Deadly Games 4K but chickened out.
Liking for the haul and sense of financial responsibility, not the condition of your house.*



Liking for the haul and sense of financial responsibility, not the condition of your house.*
Appreciate the clarification. They’re currently repainting to there’s SOME progress getting us closer to home. Until then, I have to feel guiltier than usual about my impulsive movie purchases. *eyes the Kino flicks I neglected to mention: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4K, Rawhead Rex, Avanti and What’s New Pussycat*



Appreciate the clarification. They’re currently repainting to there’s SOME progress getting us closer to home. Until then, I have to feel guiltier than usual about my impulsive movie purchases. *eyes the Kino flicks I neglected to mention: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4K, Rawhead Rex, Avanti and What’s New Pussycat*
Had no idea you were a fan of TGTB&TU, MKS...






Had no idea you were a fan of TGTB&TU, MKS...



Love Leone in general. I prefer Once Upon a Time in the West but hot damn if I don’t love everything he’s done and TGTBATU is worthy of its reputation. Can’t wait to see its visual splendor in 4K (was very impressed with the Blu-ray over the DVD and I hear this is another major step up)

Well, I don’t love Colossus of Rhodes but it’s a solid enough peplum flick.



Love Leone in general. I prefer Once Upon a Time in the West but hot damn if I don’t love everything he’s done and TGTBATU is worthy of its reputation. Can’t wait to see its visual splendor in 4K (was very impressed with the Blu-ray over the DVD and I hear this is another major step up)

Well, I don’t love Colossus of Rhodes but it’s a solid enough peplum flick.
I like OUATITW too, but GBU's always been my favorite Leone, followed closely behind by Once Upon A Time In America. In fact, I might as well go ahead and rank everything I've seen from him:



1. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
2. Once Upon A Time In America
3. Once Upon A Time In The West
4. Duck, You Sucker!
5. A Fistful Of Dollars/For A Few Dollars More


Every single one is at least very good, if not one of the greatest of all time level, though.



My rankings would go like this:

1. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (10/10)
2. A Fistful of Dollars (9/10)
3. Once Upon a Time in the West (8/10)
4. Once Upon a Time in America (8/10)
5. For a Few Dollars More (7/10)

Need to watch Duck, You Sucker! soon.
__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd



Um, wut?

Look, dude, Let It Be is actually excellent, "Dig A Pony" is a backbreaker of a song, and people, including that dick-wad John Lennon, who don't appreciate it are fools.
But let's not get carried away.

Abbey Road has consistently been near the bottom of my Beatles list since, for lack of a better word, forever. I would rank some of their early stuff below it, but when it comes to the meat of their career, I've always preferred Revolver, Help, Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, White Album, Magical Mystery Tour, and even pseudo State-side riff raff compilations like Hey Jude or Yesterday and Today. It only has three tracks I love (Something, Here Comes the Sun, I Want You). Its first side only has 5 songs, two of which are my all time least favorite (Maxwell, Octopus), and (as discussed) its big opener, kind of a middle of the road 'big song' for me. This of course leaves the big medley at the end, which as a piece of studio wizardry is justifiably loved, and that I sort of love as well, but as individual pieces, only small segments really resonate with me.



Now, I get why other people rank Abbey Road highly. It's their slickest album, and yet another evolution in their sound, and possibly some of their most mature songwriting. But as I was just listening to Let it Be the other day (which I always had ranked below it before), I started wondering why I think worse of it, when I like to love virtually every track on it, while I hardly have even the slightest interest of every putting Abbey Road on. Frankly, I think the only song on Let It Be I don't like is Get Back. But that at least has Billy Preston on it. So it doesn't kill.


As is probably well known with my movie taste, this often translates into what I prefer in music. I don't like all the rough ends sanded off. I don't like things being tinkered with in the name of perfection. And that's kind of Abbey Road in a nutshell.



It holds up for a couple of songs. "Dig a Pony" > "Come Together"; "I've Got a Feeling" > "The End"; "Two of Us" > "Here Comes the Sun". "Dig It" is definitely > "Polythene Pam".

But the Spectorized orchestral recordings are far worse than the sappiest, soperific-est "Slumbers" imaginable.

I've never minded the strings on stuff like Long and Winding Road. I wouldn't be surprised if I preferred the Naked version, but I've always been very fond of that song as is, sappy or not.



I see your Maple Leaf fans and raise you any fan group from Philadelphia.

If you are talking in terms of being obnoxious, I think there are many cities who probably rival or better (worsen) those of the Leafs. But when you start throwing in the general stupidity, which has been amplified by the generational PTSD caused by this consistently awful franchise, they become a significantly awful portion of the Canadian population. I'm currently looking at having to listen to an entire summer of them talk about trading all their marquee players to the glue factory (or worse, for draft picks), and then as soon as they win their first game next season, having to read the headlines about how this year they are destined for the Stanley Cup. At least until they lose one game.



then as soon as they win their first game next season, having to read the headlines about how this year they are destined for the Stanley Cup. At least until they lose one game.
Happens every year, like clockwork.



Frankly, I think the only song on Let It Be I don't like is Get Back. But that at least has Billy Preston on it. So it doesn't kill.
That particular perfomance of "Get Back" is the weakest available, a bit sloggy, doesn't quite have the gallup of the single or the rooftop performances, the "no Pakistanis" version, or quite a few others.


As is probably well known with my movie taste, this often translates into what I prefer in music. I don't like all the rough ends sanded off.
That's one of the charms of the entire Get Back-era catalogue, it's shaggy as hell. I know that it's not realistic to expect very many people to spend weeks sifting through all of that, but there's a lot that I like - the fast, shambolic version of "Two of Us", the odd electric guitar arrangement of "Across the Universe", the "All Things Must Pass" with John/Paul's backing harmonies, the slower "Bathroom Window", the funkier "I Want You". One of the biggest crimes of Let It Be was the inexplicable omission of any version of "Don't Let Me Down", arguably the strongest song from the sessions. Maybe if I could suggest a single unofficial set that would represent some of the brighter highlights, it would be The River Rhine, a relatively breezy 3CD set. (The title track is a bluesy take on "Long Winding Road".)

I've never minded the strings on stuff like Long and Winding Road. I wouldn't be surprised if I preferred the Naked version, but I've always been very fond of that song as is, sappy or not.
Naked just isn't very well mixed, and there's been a lot of audiophilic discussion over that.

I prefer the sparer arrangement of "Road", giving it more of a last call nightclub feel than something out of Disney movie. The latter worked fine for "Goodnight", as in somewhat ironically. I still believe that Spector's arrangement was the result of Lennon wanting to mock a song that he clearly hated performing. But even then, it's better than the sneezy "Universe", the worst version of that song available, or the stupor of "Let It Be", far inferior to the single version, and with a guitar solo that Harrison hated.



I like OUATITW too, but GBU's always been my favorite Leone, followed closely behind by Once Upon A Time In America. In fact, I might as well go ahead and rank everything I've seen from him:



1. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
2. Once Upon A Time In America
3. Once Upon A Time In The West
4. Duck, You Sucker!
5. A Fistful Of Dollars/For A Few Dollars More


Every single one is at least very good, if not one of the greatest of all time level, though.
I think OUATITW is the perfect balance between Leone’s earlier, leaner flicks and the grandiose epics of GBU and America. While I’m a big fan of the latter two and will never bother with a shorter cut of America, I feel like Leone’s protracted style is better suited to something less than 3 hours long.

If I were to rank them, I would probably be like this:

1) OUATITW
2) TGTBTU
3) For a Few Dollars More
4) OUATIA
5) Duck, You Sucker
6) Fistful of Dollars (it’s great but I’d rather watch Yojimbo)
7) Colossus of Rhodes

I’ll probably work my way through his Second Unit career at some point.



Remember at RT, when Kate did a multi-poll of everyone's favorite track from each of the Beatle albums? Might be an interesting thing to revisit. I think mine went something like:


Twist and Shout
All I've Got To Do
And I Love Her
No Reply
I've Just Seen a Face
Girl
And Your Bird Can Sing
A Day in the Life
Strawberry Fields Forever
I'm So Tired
Hey Bulldog
You Never Give Me Your Money
Dig a Pony


Bad Boy
Don't Let Me Down



Victim of The Night
Lennon seemed to enjoy singing it. I don't think he disliked it. It's one of the great secret Beatle anthems, and lobbing off the vocals on the opening and ending riffs is one of the better Spector decisions.
I read an article where he said it "was ****".



Victim of The Night
I've been dabbling in these recent classic rock box sets. I'm not a fan of the format of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band one, where most of the discs are sequenced like the original album. I wish they had done it chronologically, like the recent Beatle sets. The "evolution" disc is probably best because it has a lot of fly-on-the-wall studio stuff. My fave is this brief glimpse, and I wish, against the objections of many I'm sure, that they had melded the concurrent Yoko LP (which is actually quite good) into the fold.


I have Plastic Ono Band on vinyl and I think it's amazing. I can't tell if that's actually relevant to what you were saying but there it is.



Victim of The Night
Yeah but think of how impressed your visitors will be by your I Spit On Your Grave refrigerator magnets. Especially your lady visitors.
HAHAHAHA!



Victim of The Night
Abbey Road has consistently been near the bottom of my Beatles list since, for lack of a better word, forever. I would rank some of their early stuff below it, but when it comes to the meat of their career, I've always preferred Revolver, Help, Hard Day's Night, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, White Album, Magical Mystery Tour, and even pseudo State-side riff raff compilations like Hey Jude or Yesterday and Today. It only has three tracks I love (Something, Here Comes the Sun, I Want You). Its first side only has 5 songs, two of which are my all time least favorite (Maxwell, Octopus), and (as discussed) its big opener, kind of a middle of the road 'big song' for me. This of course leaves the big medley at the end, which as a piece of studio wizardry is justifiably loved, and that I sort of love as well, but as individual pieces, only small segments really resonate with me.



Now, I get why other people rank Abbey Road highly. It's their slickest album, and yet another evolution in their sound, and possibly some of their most mature songwriting. But as I was just listening to Let it Be the other day (which I always had ranked below it before), I started wondering why I think worse of it, when I like to love virtually every track on it, while I hardly have even the slightest interest of every putting Abbey Road on. Frankly, I think the only song on Let It Be I don't like is Get Back. But that at least has Billy Preston on it. So it doesn't kill.


As is probably well known with my movie taste, this often translates into what I prefer in music. I don't like all the rough ends sanded off. I don't like things being tinkered with in the name of perfection. And that's kind of Abbey Road in a nutshell.
I'm just gonna say me and most of my friends consider it to be their magnum opus, an historic musical achievement, the pinnacle of everything they ever did, and better than almost anything anyone else ever did either. To me, the entire Beatles catalogue, including Revolver, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper's, The Beatles (White Album), and Let It Be are all just scrabbling for a distant second place.



Victim of The Night
It holds up for a couple of songs. "Dig a Pony" > "Come Together"; "I've Got a Feeling" > "The End"; "Two of Us" > "Here Comes the Sun". "Dig It" is definitely > "Polythene Pam".

But the Spectorized orchestral recordings are far worse than the sappiest, soperific-est "Slumbers" imaginable.
I would at least debate your first example, but "Something", "Oh Darling", "I Want You", cannot be ignored and "Here Comes The Sun" is better than "Two Of Us" and is an all-time great song musicians (including myself) are still studying.



I read an article where he said it "was ****".
Lennon was cranky. He's variously said that everything the Beatles did was **** and saying they were the best band in the world. Once he even thought he wrote "Two of Us". When you listen to him sing "Dig a Pony", no one has a gun to head. He's into it.


I have Plastic Ono Band on vinyl and I think it's amazing. I can't tell if that's actually relevant to what you were saying but there it is.
I think it's one of the most brilliant LPs of all time. A devastating personal statement, including all of the idiosyncrasies illustrated above in his interviews, a mesh of self-indulgence/self-deprecation.


Late last year they released an 8 CD box set commemorating the LP's 50th anniversary. For fans, it's got a lot of great stuff, but I don't like how they formatted the discs to be the identical sequence of the LP. So you have different mixes, outtakes, demos, etc, laid out in the LP sequence from disc to disc. I wish it had been laid out chronologically.


I wouldn't put the Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band LP on the same level, but I do think it's a good record, and I would have liked to have seen it be a part of this box set, as they were recorded largely at the same time with the same musicians, and, given their mirrored covers, were clearly intended to be complementary releases. Lennon has some really impressive guitar work on her "Why" and "Why Not", and "Greenfield Morning" has a similar trance quality to the above unreleased version of "Kyoko". It's a different, but interesting, aspect of Lennon that he rarely explored in his solo work, maybe only on "I Don't Want To Be a Soldier, Mama". Of course if you're especially allergic to Yoko's style then you may have to pass, but I enjoy hearing these roads less taken.



I would at least debate your first example, but "Something", "Oh Darling", "I Want You", cannot be ignored and "Here Comes The Sun" is better than "Two Of Us" and is an all-time great song musicians (including myself) are still studying.
I prefer "Two of Us", but it's a subjective thing. "Sun" is the more impressive production and intricate song construction.