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JANUARY 2017 MOVIE DISCUSSION THREAD


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1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/best-2016-wendi-freemans-top-ten-first-time-watches/

And you thought you did your best to watch some good, overlooked films last year. Step up to the plate. 

I'll be damned if I don't ever see Straight Time or Blue Collar in their entirety.

Wait, there's a bunch of people who haven't seen Hardcore? Straight Time popped up on TCM some time during the first half of last year. M. Emmett Walsh is great as the asshole parole officer who violates Hoffman because Busey left his rig behind.

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Die Hard is always good for a re-watch, though. Especially when you appreciate the more subtle moments.

*befuddled henchman mouth whispering* "Asian Dawn?"

*Hans off the walkie* "I read about them in Time Magazine." 

*casual shrug*

McClane's "What the fuck?" reaction is also great.  He doesn't fully understand what is happening here, But he knows fine well Hans doesn't give a crap about politics or being pissed about whatever far off foreign country America has just invaded. He's a step ahead of everyone else. 

 

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IMO, Die Hard worked so well because both McClane and Gruber are very human in their own ways.

McClane, as you mentioned, slowly goes crazier as the film goes along. But he has to trust his instincts. Not like he has any other choice. 

And Hans? Well, he's cold and evil, obviously. But he's not really the cartoonish bad guy we usually see in action movies. It's purely about money for him. If people have to die for it to happen? So be it. But he's not necessarily bloodthirsty. Hans always considers himself perfectly rational.

A lot of action movies after Die Hard ripped off Hans (evil cultured foreigner). But they failed because, eh, because, it was too over-the top?

Passenger 57 springs to mind.   

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1 hour ago, Reed said:

Die Hard is always good for a re-watch, though. Especially when you appreciate the more subtle moments.

*befuddled henchman mouth whispering* "Asian Dawn?"

*Hans off the walkie* "I read about them in Time Magazine." 

*casual shrug*

McClane's "What the fuck?" reaction is also great.  He doesn't fully understand what is happening here, But he knows fine well Hans doesn't give a crap about politics or being pissed about whatever far off foreign country America has just invaded. He's a step ahead of everyone else. 

 

I'd probably seen it dozens of times before I noticed Theo and Karl are betting on whether or not Takagi will give up his passcodes.

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Unfortunately for Mr. Takagi who won't be joining us for the rest of his life, Theo won the bet and Karl was not happy about it.

And speaking of stuff in the movie that few people notice, not everyone catches Al Leong eating one of the Snickers bars he stole from the Nakatomi concession stand when the unit is on walkie talkies discussing the battle plan.

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"She's heard me say 'I love you' 1000 times, she never once heard me say 'I'm sorry.'"

A powerful, rather deep line with a level of emotion that few action films can ever touch. 

McClane is flat out admitting: "I fucked up this marriage."  It's a startling confession from a man who is pretty sure he's going to die.

As opposed to when we see him earlier in the movie and he has convinced himself: "This is mostly her fault. A little of mine's, sure. But mostly hers."

IMO, Die Hard is a psychological masterpiece.

But no one wants to admit it because, well, it's just a stupid action movie. 

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Die Hard works because the characters work. 

It is interesting to note how John will do things on the spur of the moment out of a sense of duty that are totally insane and yet he has no idea what he should do to get his marriage back on track.

And as infuriating as Holly finds John to be, when the shit goes down at Nakatomi, Holly still stands by her man the best way she knows how (by keeping her mouth shut and not revealing her identity) because she believes in John and knows his sense of purpose..

She also knows that John loves her and all of the yippie kai yay will come to a screeching halt if Hans uses Holly's life as leverage.

The tragedy of the latter Die Hard films after 2 isn't that they are dreadfully formulaic:  the tragedy is that all of that relationship background got dumped so that John could be converted into a simple action movie character.

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What I've watched recently:

Thirty Minutes or Less is a comedy in which every Danny McBride character ever needs to rob a bank to hire a hitman to kill his Dad to inherit his money. So he gets Jesse Eisenberg (who delivers pizzas) to do it, and he ropes in his friend Aziz Ansari. That's basically it, it's kind of funny but kind of disappointing.

Elysium is post-apocalyptic sci-fi about the evils of the class system, in which almost every working class character is Latino (except Matt Damon, who's character's surname is Da Costa and speaks Spanish, so he's probably supposed to be played by a Latino too), but nobody ever mentions race at all. It feels like it's one of those stories designed to seem clever to stupid people, but the message it's sending is one that's been told a million times before. And it jettisons it in favour of becoming an 'action hero kills a bunch of bad dudes, then sacrifices himself to save mankind' trope anyway. It's alright.

Oldboy is a Spike Lee film, which is odd because most Spike Lee movies are billed as 'A Spike Lee joint'. Maybe he's maturing as an artist. It's a remake of the great Korean film, and it's not as good. Right in the middle of the mystery section, there's a reveal shot that kills the tension whilst achieving nothing. It kind of prick teases you by alluding to classic scenes in the original, and then either not doing them (the octopus) or doing them badly (the hallway fight). Nothing really to see, unless you'd rather see a bad movie in English than agreat one with subtitles. Sharlto Copley is in both these last two, and he's a completely different person in both, to the point where you can't tell it's the same person. So credit to him, anyway.

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4 hours ago, Technico Support said:

I liked Elysium but I'm a sucker for Blomkampt's heavy-handed life lessons shit.

Elysium needed a little less sermon and a bit more chem-rail and airburst ammo insanity.

I have not even bothered to watch Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy.  I'd rather just trip on his remake of Ganja & Hess and hope he puts out one more quality picture before he dies.

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On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 0:41 AM, Curt McGirt said:

http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/best-2016-wendi-freemans-top-ten-first-time-watches/

And you thought you did your best to watch some good, overlooked films last year. Step up to the plate. 

I'll be damned if I don't ever see Straight Time or Blue Collar in their entirety.

Myself, I didn't go back very far last year.  It seemed I spent most of the year either getting caught up on 2015 releases, or 2010-2014 releases and seldom ventured any further back.

But here's my Top 10 anyways

10. Holy Motors (2012): Insane French film about a guy who goes around dressing up as different people for his...job.  I'll be honest, I have no idea what was happening here, including the cars talking to each other at the end.  Fun to watch, though.

09. Quick Change (1990): It turns out I had never seen this Bill Murray comedy/heist flick.  Equally parts funny and frustrating with them trying, and repeatedly failing, to get out of the city.

08. Prisoners (2013): Hugh Jackman plays a father whose daughter is kidnapped who decides to intimidate/torture the man he believes to have committed the crime when the police officer assigned to the case (Jake Gyllenhaal) can't seem to do anything about it.

07. RockNRolla (2008): Another stylish Guy Ritchie action-comedy that somehow I missed.  Lots of fun, some great actors, even if the plot seemed to get solved a little too easily.

06. Hello I Must Be Going (2012): I LOVE Melanie Lynskey and with the sudden end of Togetherness on HBO this year, I was looking for a Lynsky fix and found this little indie film at the library.  Lynskey plays a woman whose life is shattered after her husband leaves her, moves back in with her parents and seems to be meaningless until she falls in love with a much younger man.  Lynskey is a total force and the movie never quite goes where I expected it to which is all that I ask of my films, sometimes.

05. La Dolce Vita (1960): I had never actually seen this and after numerous people said it was the greatest film ever, I had to finally watch it.  It was all right.  Sometimes Fellini leaves me kind of cold but I enjoyed this one.  I especially loved the segment with the children witnessing a miracle.  That must have been a nightmare to try and film.

04. Tom at the Farm (2013): Intense Canadian psychological thriller about a guy who meets the family of his deceased boyfriend, only to realize the family had no idea their son was gay while he is alternately taken in and intimidated by the man's brother.

03. Hooper (1978): Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham's ode to stuntment is basically what I had hoped it be, something like the Bandit from 'Smokey and the Bandit' settling down and having a career as a stuntman.  Lots of ridiculous stunts, including a one that broke a world record, and an absolutely bananas ending sequence with a rocket-powered car and explosions everywhere.

02. Police Story (1985)/Police Story 2 (1988): I had never seen either of these and my local library put it an order for them and I sat on a waiting list for it for the better part of a year and a half waiting for it.  And it was worth it.  An obscene collection of death-defying stunts from a very young Jackie Chan.  The comedy elements are pretty silly and the plot is ludicrous, but there are so many stunts in this that leave the viewer going "Oh my God, I think that guy is dead".

01. Bird People (2014): Fascinating French film telling two separate stories inside a hotel (I'm a sucker for movies set in hotels, I love hotels).  The first part is about a man suddenly cutting off all contact with his wife and family, work and friends.  Just a complete sudden break.  The extended break-up sequence taking place via webcam is pure heartbreak.  The second half is about a hotel maid who...you know it's better not to explain it, just let it be known it ties into the title and features some of the most extraordinary cinematography I've seen in YEARS.

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1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Wasn't Chiraq supposed to be pretty good? I don't dig musicals so I haven't watched it.

I haven't seen it yet, but my girlfriend says that it is awesome.

I am stuck in traffic in fucking Fredricksburg, so I am sending my mobile data plan through the roof.

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I caught some of Hooper last year but sadly missed the ending. RockNRolla was again on TV too and though it's not as good as Lock, Stock... or Snatch (I still haven't seen Revolver, is that worth searching out?) I dig it a lot. 

Dunno if I could make a top ten as my memory is shot, but #1 with a sword of the classics I finally got around to last year has to be Lady Snowblood. Bless TCM for dropping such randomness on the airwaves. 

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2 hours ago, J.T. said:

I haven't seen it yet, but my girlfriend says that it is awesome.

I think it's okay. It's basically the musical parts of School Daze but replacing an HBCU campus w/ Chicago and Sam Jackson is the narrator instead of the ornery Jheri curl wearing old guy at the KFC. Considering a lot of the acting in it, it needed more Sam Jackson.

I will say that Cocaine Lorraine's ass is featured prominently in this for all of 2 minutes so I can't say it's a bad movie. So if you follow Flat Tummy tea selling Instagram models, this movie is certainly for you.

 

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4 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

(I still haven't seen Revolver, is that worth searching out?)

I don't know as I was unaware of its existence until this past fall when I turned it up at a book sale for 50 cents.  Still haven't gotten around to watching it.

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So as it turned out, In Order Of Disappearance isn't a Taken retread so much as it's "Taken and Blue Ruin decide to conceive a child and use Fargo as a surrogate". I liked it. Bruno Ganz is apparently turning into R. Lee Ermey in his old age. On the other hand, my first attempt at Alice Through The Looking Glass stalled because the whole "Alice is SHOCKED by male chauvinist attitudes in the 19th century British aristocracy" set-up was painfully awkward to watch...

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My Top 10 first time watches (in no particular order) (I've disqualified anything from the current decade as it feels wrong to be including films from 2014)

Lessons of Darkness (1992) Werner Herzog's incredible imagery from the burning oilfields at the end of the Gulf war

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) A near 3 hour documentary on LA's portrayal in the movies. Tons of movie clips - this is a feast for cinephiles

Man With A Movie Camera (1929) Astonishingly creative and innovative non-narrative Russian film. A classic.

Love and Death (1975) I've seen about 80% of Woody Allen's output now, and this shot right up near the top of my favourites. A ton of great gags here, it's sidesplittingly funny in places

Double Life of Veronique (1991) Kieslowski is my all-time favourite director. His films are gorgeous.

Spaceballs (1987) I've been unwittingly catching up with what are considered classic American comedies from the 70s/80s this year. One was terrible (Caddyshack), one had great hits, but also great misses (The Jerk) but this one was top notch. My son loved it too.

High Anxiety (1977) This however was the best comedy I watched this year, and for my money is Mel Brooks' finest of what I've seen (not a big fan of The Producers or Blazing Saddles, but the latter is due a rewatch)

Manhunter (1986) You don't need me to tell you about this. Most of you are already fans.

Bullitt (1968) Technically not a first time watch, but I couldn't remember a thing about it (apart from the iconic car chase) that it might've well as been.

Lady Snowblood (1973) A Criterion blind buy. Stunning.

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While I'm here going through my film viewing list for the year, I present to you (without explanation) 10 first time watches I disliked/hated.

Antz (1998)
Caddyshack (1980)
Zoolander 2 (2016)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)
Now You See Me (2013)
Queen of Earth (2015)
Toys (1992)
Lady in the Water (2006)
The Lone Ranger (2013)

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