2024 MOVIES DISCUSSION THREAD

[RIPPA]

Apparently all I watched in 2023 was various versions of A Christmas Carol

I will be taking no further questions at this time

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

Apparently all I watched in 2023 was various versions of A Christmas Carol

I will be taking no further questions at this time

We all have our moments of temptation. I watched way too many Lacey Chabert Hallmark movies, for example.

[JLSigman]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Apparently all I watched in 2023 was various versions of A Christmas Carol

There are some good ones out there, and some rare ones that don't exist outside of a janky VHS copy in the basement somewhere.

[odessasteps]

Along as Mr Magoo is one of them.

[Contentious C]

Welp.

School of Rock - At least I started the year off well.  I don't think I've seen a more insufferable and piledriver-worthy character in a film in quite some time than Sarah Silverman is in this.  At least some small part of that is because you can tell she's barely holding it together and wants to laugh through every scene she's in, so the lack of professionalism just adds to how unbearable she is.  I kind of wish the writer hadn't injected himself in the movie, too; he's not exactly any good.  The rest of it is awesome and I'll brook no dislike of it from any of you.  But it does say something about what a sad sack I am that I took 20 years to get around to this.  Love, love, love.

Mona Lisa Smile - OK, I take it back; there are about four different characters here who are so terrible they make Sarah Silverman look like a candy striper, not the least of which is Kirsten Dunst.  It's telling about the movie that you'll spend nearly the whole runtime playing, "Who's Robert Sean Leonarding Themselves?" in your head during this dead-obvious, distaff Dead Poet's Society, but then it never comes.  But, it could have been worse. Do they really do that "knock on the door with the gavel" thing? So, we should infer that 'pedigree' means 'amount of skill acquired at sticking one's head up one's own ass'? Yikes. 

Nice to see Muppet Baby Krysten Ritter, Kristen Connolly (even if neither had lines), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, though.

Life Itself - How do you have Olivia Wilde and Olivia Cooke in the same film and get the proportions this wrong? Half as much Wilde, twice as much Cooke, thanks. By the way, I had a cat named Jerkface and I often want to shout incoherently at Starbucks; does that mean Olivia Wilde could marry me and then unceremoniously leave me? I mean, that is what she does to her husbands in real life, anyway, may as well add another to the scoreboard.

King of schmalz brings more royal schmalz. Contrary to some comments you might find on Letterboxd, the bit where Antonio Banderas talks about olive oil for 12 hours is the best part, because the movie is quiet when he does that. No jittery cam on the city sidewalks (the filmic equivalent of Bob Dylan's voice if there ever was one); no ironically reliable narrator after spending half an hour flogging unreliable narrators; no stupid references to quasi-Ally McBeal nonsense or Tarantino nonsense or namedropping Bob Dylan albums nonsense - just a story and a subtext and a measure of two people that leads you to who they are and how they will behave without hearing some bullshit lady tell us the whole point of everything. Just let people figure things out for themselves.

But still, Olivia Cooke wrecked everyone and everything else in this movie for about 8 minutes there, metaphorically and literally (except for that overly affected 'toast').  Too bad that's all we got of her character in this clear instance of "women exist to further men's story arcs"-itis.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) - I find it baffling that McFadyen is famous for two such total opposites: a quietly romantic doofus who wouldn't say shit if he had a mouthful, and a bloodless, money-grubbing neurotic who *will not shut the fuck up*. Really that he's famous at all for this role, since he's...well, OK I suppose, and he's certainly no Colin Firth.  The casting in general is a little much, since Literal Goddess Rosamund Pike struggles to find a husband, along equally struggling and equally Literal Goddess Keira Knightley.  Come off it, already.

I'm surprised this is as well-received as it is. The sound mixing is some of the worst of any big-budget period piece I've ever seen; most of the dialogue is too lightly spoken, delivered at about Warp 8, and gets drowned out by the music for almost the whole film. It makes one wonder if the physical editions of this are just as bad (I watched it on Youtube), or if the theatrical release suffered the same problems (setting aside the fact that every damn thing in the theater is overbearingly loud for practically every feature). Some of the camera work is great - that dance hall oner, damn - but most of the sudden zooms and close-ups seem jarring and amateurish, nearly always feeling hit-you-over-the-head-with-the-Sledgehammer-of-Importance in their usage.

Luckily, the rest of the performances are strong. Still on Team 1995, though.

Footloose (1984) - I feel a little dumb putting the year there, but there *sigh* was a remake, so I have to.  Pros: John Lithgow in a surprisingly nuanced role that may actually be among his best. Cons: just about everything else.

Your casting is probably a bit off when buttoned-to-the-hilt Dianne Wiest looks 10x better than all the young teeny-boppers you're supposed to catch feelings for. Also, good to know whatever problems you can't solve by dancing, you can solve by beating the shit out of someone while the cops aren't looking.  Also good to know that small-town America has stopped being batshit crazy about teenagers dancing, in lieu of being batshit crazy about literally everything else, everywhere else.  And please stop telling me how attractive Kevin Bacon is; if you have to say it, it's not really true.  It's like big dick energy.  Then again, pairing him up with Lori Singer makes a certain sort of sense, since she's in the same boat.  If there's a real highlight moment, though, it's poor Chris Penn learning to dance, doing those front rolls and somehow keeping his hat on both times.  That was a real man.

Edited January 5 by Contentious C

[Curt McGirt]

I watched Footloose for some reason as a kid; it was real late at night and there was nothing else on. I wouldn't have watched it then and I wouldn't watch it now. But John Lithgow being a closet classical music fan somehow resonated with me. It's like he understood the importance of music but couldn't reconcile it with a different generation. And just the fact that he liked classical in and of itself gave him some sympathy. I'm a classical fan and I listen to classical music and I've never met a single other person who does in real life. 

[odessasteps]

Were you around for the brief “hooked on classics” fad? 

 

Edited January 5 by odessasteps

[Curt McGirt]

I was born in '83 while the two albums were in '81 and '82 apparently, so juuuuuuuust missed it 

My first memory of music may have been TV commercials for classical comps though, like Columbia House sets or something. I remember imitating the conductors and being enthralled. 

My second memories of music are getting a tiny kids' record player and LPs of Snoopy and the Red Baron, On Top of Old Smokey, and (this is so fucking cool and something I wish I could find sooo so bad) a surf rock comp that had BIG DADDY ROTH MONSTERS on the cover. It was amazing. 

In Curt tradition I ended up breaking all of it. This is a recurring theme. 

[Curt McGirt]

Ack -- double post

Edited January 5 by Curt McGirt

[Tabe]

23 hours ago, Contentious C said:

 

Footloose (1984) - I feel a little dumb putting the year there, but there *sigh* was a remake, so I have to.  Pros: John Lithgow in a surprisingly nuanced role that may actually be among his best. Cons: just about everything else.

Your casting is probably a bit off when buttoned-to-the-hilt Dianne Wiest looks 10x better than all the young teeny-boppers you're supposed to catch feelings for. Also, good to know whatever problems you can't solve by dancing, you can solve by beating the shit out of someone while the cops aren't looking.  Also good to know that small-town America has stopped being batshit crazy about teenagers dancing, in lieu of being batshit crazy about literally everything else, everywhere else.  And please stop telling me how attractive Kevin Bacon is; if you have to say it, it's not really true.  It's like big dick energy.  Then again, pairing him up with Lori Singer makes a certain sort of sense, since she's in the same boat.  If there's a real highlight moment, though, it's poor Chris Penn learning to dance, doing those front rolls and somehow keeping his hat on both times.  That was a real man.

First of all, this movie is awesome and I'll hear no dissent. It has no flaws. 

Secondly, I graduated in 1990 from a high school polar opposite from Footloose High - inner city, 75% black, blah blah blah. School dances were banned within our city limits. We actuality had to have prom a few miles away because of that. 

[Johnny Sorrow]

2 hours ago, Tabe said:

First of all, this movie is awesome and I'll hear no dissent. It has no flaws. 

Secondly, I graduated in 1990 from a high school polar opposite from Footloose High - inner city, 75% black, blah blah blah. School dances were banned within our city limits. We actuality had to have prom a few miles away because of that. 

Footloose was a fucking transformative event for me in 1984. I was 13 going on 14 and it was a smash. All we had in our small New Jersey town was going to the movies the next town over back then. Footloose was our " Rebel Without A Cause".  We didn't live in a town that hated dance, music, or books, but it was the sticks. I was the first kid in Eighth grade to get a spiked haircut because of Footloose. 

[RandomAct]

Last night I watched THE BURIAL. I don't make the rules, but if you want a good courtroom film, then it has to be set in Mississippi. Alabama also acceptable.

[Robert S]

3 hours ago, RandomAct said:

Last night I watched THE BURIAL. I don't make the rules, but if you want a good courtroom film, then it has to be set in Mississippi. Alabama also acceptable.

Hmm... there's To Kill a Mockingbird and The Jury what else am I missing? Inherit the Wind takes place in Tennessee (the movie apparently does not even mention that state, the play though is placed in Tennessee). There is also The Chamber - I am sure I have seen that movie but I don't remember it (and the Rotten Tomatoes score is very much on the "rotten" side).

[odessasteps]

And of course 

 

[Tabe]

4 hours ago, Robert S said:

Hmm... there's To Kill a Mockingbird and The Jury what else am I missing? Inherit the Wind takes place in Tennessee (the movie apparently does not even mention that state, the play though is placed in Tennessee). There is also The Chamber - I am sure I have seen that movie but I don't remember it (and the Rotten Tomatoes score is very much on the "rotten" side).

A Time to Kill

[RandomAct]

So. I am originally from Mississippi. Once me and a few friends were watching A Time To Kill, and one of them dismissively asked why every movie based in MS had everyone covered in like, a sheen of sweat all the time. I had to point out to her that it's pretty accurate, since many of the courthouses didn't have A/C until the 2000's, and many still don't.

[(BP)]

The Verdict is set in Boston, and I don’t think it gets much better than that. 

[Contentious C]

Plus, for the *ahem* documentarians among us, there's the Rick & Morty-flavored madness of...whoever that guy was who told off the judge for 12 minutes straight.  That happened in GA.

[odessasteps]

I didn’t know/remember all the people who were in Amadeus. I don’t know that I’ve watched it since the 80s. Definitely don’t think I’ve seen the directors cut before.

[twiztor]

so, has there ever been a consensus on which isthe best release of Blade Runner?

i watched it in the early 00s and was left incredibly underwhelmed for a movie that's supposed to be such a classic. i rented it on vhs, so probably just watched something akin to the theatrical version. i also really love the book it's based on, so i probably docked it points for not being as good. but i feel like i owe it a re-evaluation and want to give it a fair shot. i've run into arguments about "extended cuts" or "directors cuts" and don't really know which way to go. thoughts?

tl;dr i want to watch Blade Runner. but which version?

[Contentious C]

The Final Cut.

[Curt McGirt]

I think the only cut I've seen is the Final Cut. Caught some of that original with a bored, listless Harrison Ford doing voiceover and said NOPE.

[odessasteps]

I've seen them all, when that box set check out. No VO is def the way to go. 

[JLSigman]

8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I think the only cut I've seen is the Final Cut. Caught some of that original with a bored, listless Harrison Ford doing voiceover and said NOPE.

Oh, there's a version without that? Thanks, I will go find me a rental of it.

[Curt McGirt]

Oh FFS YES. Go get it. Totally different movie.