2024 MOVIES DISCUSSION THREAD

[odessasteps]

I just saw people discussing North on Ty Templetons FB page. 

[Cobra Commander]

just watched "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" on TCM and it lives up to it's good reputation

also late in the movie I realized.. "Robert Mitchum in this movie does sorta look like a less doughy Stephen Fry" (edit: upon further reflection, maybe a little Ralph Waite/John Walton Sr too)

Edited January 31 by Cobra Commander

[driver]

I can see the John Walton after too much of The Baldwin Sisters "recipe" now that you mention it.

[Brian Fowler]

Gotta be honest, I cannot wrap my head around the idea of anyone thinking Natural Born Killers was better than True Romance.

[RIPPA]

A24 is bringing 4 months back to the theaters during February

Pearl, A Ghost Story, The Lobster, and The Lighthouse

They are calling it "The Lover's Series" 

One every Friday. So Pearl is Feb 7, Ghost Story is Feb 14, etc..

Only catch is it is only AMC theaters

[Curt McGirt]

6 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

Gotta be honest, I cannot wrap my head around the idea of anyone thinking Natural Born Killers was better than True Romance.

Despite the plot I think it's pretty apples to oranges just because NBK is so out-there.

Was thinking about it this morning, there were three films that as a kid really introduced me to the realms of possibility in cinema that were of the time and weren't horror movies. 

1. NBK

2. Fear and Loathing

3. Trainspotting

and the rest were all the Tarantino films. Just a statement, that's what influenced me going forward as a baseline. 

[Curt McGirt]

I honestly can't remember if I saw The Lighthouse or not but that ending, on the big screen... I'll be seeing it again for sure. 

[COLETTI]

9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Despite the plot I think it's pretty apples to oranges just because NBK is so out-there.

Was thinking about it this morning, there were three films that as a kid really introduced me to the realms of possibility in cinema that were of the time and weren't horror movies. 

1. NBK

2. Fear and Loathing

3. Trainspotting

and the rest were all the Tarantino films. Just a statement, that's what influenced me going forward as a baseline. 

Fear & Loathing was and still is one of my favorite films of all time. I know it was... not everybody's favorite upon release but it's definitely one I've hoped would be more and more loved and accepted as the years go on. 

Edited February 2 by Coletti

[Curt McGirt]

Ebert ripping it is one of those mind-bogglers. I think he had some weird beef with Hunter though. I actually read an article where they talked about I think five films that were shockingly unliked by Ebert, one notoriously being Blue Velvet, and Fear and Loathing was one of them.

EDIT: I was wrong. There's 15 of 'em, and Fear and Loathing... isn't?! https://collider.com/roger-ebert-worst-acclaimed-movies/

Christ, it should have been. He gave it ONE STAR. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fear-and-loathing-in-las-vegas-1998

Edited February 2 by Curt McGirt

[piranesi]

On 1/31/2024 at 2:47 AM, Cobra Commander said:

just watched "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" on TCM and it lives up to it's good reputation

also late in the movie I realized.. "Robert Mitchum in this movie does sorta look like a less doughy Stephen Fry" (edit: upon further reflection, maybe a little Ralph Waite/John Walton Sr too)

My brain registered this as "a less doughy Stephen Furst" and I thought

1) what an odd comparison

2) what would that even have looked like?

[(BP)]

16 minutes ago, piranesi said:

2) what would that even have looked like?

Tony Goldwyn? 

[piranesi]

Holy shit that man is real!

[Brian Fowler]

17 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Despite the plot I think it's pretty apples to oranges just because NBK is so out-there.

Was thinking about it this morning, there were three films that as a kid really introduced me to the realms of possibility in cinema that were of the time and weren't horror movies. 

1. NBK

2. Fear and Loathing

3. Trainspotting

and the rest were all the Tarantino films. Just a statement, that's what influenced me going forward as a baseline. 

Honestly, I just think NBK is a fucking terrible movie that fumbled every idea it tried to express. Easily my vote for the worst movie ever written by QT, up to and including Four Rooms.

[odessasteps]

1 hour ago, Brian Fowler said:

Honestly, I just think NBK is a fucking terrible movie that fumbled every idea it tried to express. Easily my vote for the worst movie ever written by QT, up to and including Four Rooms.

Would you say that’s more QTs script or how Stone made it? 

[(BP)]

NBK got a lot of mileage out of premiering within months of the Brown and Goldman murders and the OJ story overtaking culture. 

[HarryArchieGus]

21 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Despite the plot I think it's pretty apples to oranges just because NBK is so out-there.

Was thinking about it this morning, there were three films that as a kid really introduced me to the realms of possibility in cinema that were of the time and weren't horror movies. 

1. NBK

2. Fear and Loathing

3. Trainspotting

and the rest were all the Tarantino films. Just a statement, that's what influenced me going forward as a baseline. 

Love this! There were a bunch of movies I saw as a kid that were so captivating that I think I kinda knew I was always meant for a life of film-love. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is where it kinda begins for me. 

The 3 movies you mention remind me more of when I was truly becoming a 'buff'. For me that era starts with the first three Tarantino films. Natural Born Killers was also huge for me with it's wild and captivating style. It pushed the limits and felt transgressive. I also saw it prior to any non-Hollywood cinema. NBK presented a world of possibilities in so many ways. Then I saw the real true gamechanger: Apocalypse Now. I remember feeling shaky and an overwhelming physical feeling. It felt spiritual (no drugs). Around this time I also ran thru the Scorsese catalog, and most notably Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. But everything - from King of Comedy to Boxcar Bertha to Casino. Lastly, the one that sent me into the deep history and Europe and Asia and all corners of the world was David Lynch's Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me. At that time it was considered a complete misfire. The larger audience wanted a series resolution and some of the laughs the TV series provided. Out of order, this was my intial look into that world. I wouldn't recommend watching this prequel first, but I loved that I did. At that time, Eraserhead was pretty hard to find. Having to find it made it even better. David Lynch continues to be my favorite amongst many favorite filmmakers.

11 hours ago, Coletti said:

Fear & Loathing was and still is one of my favorite films of all time. I know it was... not everybody's favorite upon release but it's definitely one I've hoped would be more and more loved and accepted as the years go on. 

I can kinda sympathize with the aversion to Fear and Loathing. First time around I found it incredibly tedious with drugged out scene after drugged out scene. Then I read the book. Then I went back. And then I fell in love. Tho I liked it more on first viewing, this pattern was similar for Gilliam's arguable masterpiece Brazil. Sub in the 'Battle for Brazil' doc on the Criterion set for the book. These second looks were also hugely important in my love of film. It's what instilled in me that sometimes great films need a second look to be great.

Edited February 2 by HarryArchieGus

[Curt McGirt]

I like half of Four Rooms too, so...

[COLETTI]

12 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Christ, it should have been. He gave it ONE STAR. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fear-and-loathing-in-las-vegas-1998

Oof, that was a tough read. I get it, though, even if I think the film rocks. 

[Curt McGirt]

Like I said it feels like he had a strange beef with Hunter. Roger was initially a reporter too (for our Daily Illini and News-Gazette here in town before the Sun-Times) and probably felt that he squandered his talent. The review of his bio is consistent with this: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gonzo-the-life-and-work-of-dr-hunter-s-thompson-2008

[HarryArchieGus]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:07 AM, Brian Fowler said:

Gotta be honest, I cannot wrap my head around the idea of anyone thinking Natural Born Killers was better than True Romance.

Maybe ppl in this thread liking NBK more than True Romance is simply a good reminder that we bring our own consciousness to our personal viewings. 

For the sake of your purposed argument, I would suggest True Romance is a movie made by a formulaic filmmaker who brings little to no authorship to his film. Tony Scott was a good hand for the studios who could seemingly bring in a star studded picture on time and on budget. It's certainly a competent film, but True Romance suffers the same way the wave of Tarantino-rip offs of the 1990s did. Specifically 'Cool' unredeemable violence and a style of dialogue that without the QT direction comes off like a hack Film Student Dude. The two or three interesting scenes feel wasted by the overall purposelessness of the film. It also feels like standard 'Movies for guys who like movies' - guns, drugs, violence. Further, it features a pretty insufferable soundtrack - which feels particularly intolerable considering it's writer's knack for quality and interesting tracks. Fucking 90s Aerosmith? Or Hans Zimmer paying the worst homage to Carl Orff's Badlands score possible. Zimmer's Orff score sounds like Twee bullshit here.

Natural Born Killers on the otherhand feels very much like a leader of the 90s zeigest. The violence feels far less gratiutious in that it represents a point. It, and the film overall, asks questions and presents a discussion of the state of the media and the 24 hour news cycle. These questions weren't asked or probed in mainstream film or not like they were with NBK. Where as TR feels like a competent rendering of a Tarantino script, NBK feels like Stone takes full authorship. Sure, Stone's inconsistency suggests that could be 'for better or worse', but with NBK he brings so much creativity that feels worth praise. The choice of the various cameras was a pretty fresh idea in 1994. The wild editing style felt new. And the fantastic music. Where the TR soundtrack feels like any other Hollywood movie of the time, NBK uniquely jumps from Patti Smith to NIN to Dr Dre to Leonard Cohen to Patsy Cline to Enya to the Cowboy Junkies. That's happened since, but you'd be hard pressed to find such a varied group of qualtiy songs pre-NBK. Anyway, there's a few ideas of why somebody might prefer Natural Born Killers to True Romance.

Edited February 2 by HarryArchieGus

[Brian Fowler]

1 hour ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Maybe ppl in this thread liking NBK more than True Romance is simply a good reminder that we bring our own consciousness to our personal viewings. 

For the sake of your purposed argument, I would suggest True Romance is a movie made by a formulaic filmmaker who brings little to no authorship to his film. Tony Scott was a good hand for the studios who could seemingly bring in a star studded picture on time and on budget. It's certainly a competent film, but True Romance suffers the same way the wave of Tarantino-rip offs of the 1990s did. Specifically 'Cool' unredeemable violence and a style of dialogue that without the QT direction comes off like a hack Film Student Dude. The two or three interesting scenes feel wasted by the overall purposelessness of the film. It also feels like standard 'Movies for guys who like movies' - guns, drugs, violence. Further, it features a pretty insufferable soundtrack - which feels particularly intolerable considering it's writer's knack for quality and interesting tracks. Fucking 90s Aerosmith? Or Hans Zimmer paying the worst homage to Carl Orff's Badlands score possible. Zimmer's Orff score sounds like Twee bullshit here.

Natural Born Killers on the otherhand feels very much like a leader of the 90s zeigest. The violence feels far less gratiutious in that it represents a point. It, and the film overall, asks questions and presents a discussion of the state of the media and the 24 hour news cycle. These questions weren't asked or probed in mainstream film or not like they were with NBK. Where as TR feels like a competent rendering of a Tarantino script, NBK feels like Stone takes full authorship. Sure, Stone's inconsistency suggests that could be 'for better or worse', but with NBK he brings so much creativity that feels worth praise. The choice of the various cameras was a pretty fresh idea in 1994. The wild editing style felt new. And the fantastic music. Where the TR soundtrack feels like any other Hollywood movie of the time, NBK uniquely jumps from Patti Smith to NIN to Dr Dre to Leonard Cohen to Patsy Cline to Enya to the Cowboy Junkies. That's happened since, but you'd be hard pressed to find such a varied group of qualtiy songs pre-NBK. Anyway, there's a few ideas of why somebody might prefer Natural Born Killers to True Romance.

Now I feel like you watched a completely different movie than I did, because literally none of that works in NBK in my view. Like, literally none of it. 

[tbarrie]

7 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I like half of Four Rooms too, so...

Which two rooms did you like?

[Curt McGirt]

Last two of course. Rodriguez' was hilarious. The humor level was on the level of the children themselves, of course, but if your nose is too high in the air to accept that, then I feel sorry for you. The last one was, I firmly believe, a portrait of Tarantino being the exact person he was in real life at that time. Jimmy in Pulp Fiction was probably the same. (I sincerely hope Richie Gekko wasn't, however...) 

[(BP)]

3 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

For the sake of your purposed argument, I would suggest True Romance is a movie made by a formulaic filmmaker who brings little to no authorship to his film. Tony Scott was a good hand for the studios who could seemingly bring in a star studded picture on time and on budget. 

There are plenty of Scott film’s I don’t care for, but I’d still argue if his movies are formulaic it’s because he was an enormous influence on the formula, and if his style seems indistinguishable from his contemporaries it’s because they were cribbing from him. 

[Contentious C]

2 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

Now I feel like you watched a completely different movie than I did, because literally none of that works in NBK in my view. Like, literally none of it. 

Maybe you did?  Director's cut that no one likes?