2026 Movie Discussion Thread

[Ace]

9 hours ago, zendragon said:

Herzog has officially taken over the board

I've been repping him in my sig for years.

 

[zendragon]

If I was a billionaire I would start a wrestling company just to give the book to Warner Herzog just for the hell of it

[Contentious C]

3 hours ago, odessasteps said:

 

I used to think someone on the women's side would have an emergency from popping an implant. 

Guess I was right, but I didn't expect the implant to be lip filler!

Edited April 25 by Contentious C

[odessasteps]

Especially when someone had a finisher call “the implant buster.”

[J.H.]

7 hours ago, zendragon said:

If I was a billionaire I would start a wrestling company just to give the book to Warner Herzog just for the hell of it

If he isn't doing commentary what is the point?

James

[HarryArchieGus]

On 4/18/2026 at 11:37 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Mile End Kicks (saw in the theaters) - 4/5 stars

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With Mile End Kicks, there's something especially relatable and specific about the movie. I was 30 years old in 2011; the music of Arcade Fire were something I felt in my body and related to, even as I went to Lakewood Amphitheater to see them play with Tune-Yards (who is so crazy out of tune live that the crowd booed, but I loved her and found her compelling to hear). It's only decade or so later that we realize...yeah, Win Butler of Arcade Fire isn't a guy to admire: www.imdb.com/news/ni63861280/?ref_=nmnw_art_perm

Which is what this movie describes too for Grace Pine (Barbie Ferreira) and her epiphany towards the end of the movie: the social circle she's trying to be apart of won't truly accept her and won't truly listen to her on account of her being a woman. She's trying to agree with them in an effort to obtain social acceptance. Throughout the movie, Grace fights against her better judgment and makes every wrong choice every time. You want her to stay away from Chevy (Stanley Simons), but can see why she is drawn to him too.

Chevy reminded me a lot of the lead singer from Brian Jonestown Massacre Anton Newcombe (thanks DIG!! for that). Chevy is fucked up in every possible way and considers himself to be an 'artist,' when at best he sounds like Stephen Malkmus from Pavement (Grace even points out that his band Bone Patrol sound like Pavement). It's like watching a version of Malkmus believing his own hype as he sings on the roof about Korean supermarkets and he tries to talk to Grace only to just make out with her in public.

Grace finds herself drawn to Bone Patrol and forgetting the real reason she left Toronto to go to Montreal and that is write a book about Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill. Grace's reason is compelling, humanizing, and sad; Alanis wasn't fully accepted for her anger and Grace felt validated as a woman due to that. She's given an advance to write the first draft by July of $500. Instead of doing that, she stays drawn to Bone Patrol and becomes their publicist.

The other object of her attraction is the band's guitarist Archie (Devon Bostick), who Grace meets outside a club as he smokes weed on a Juul. Archie is attracted to Grace and tells her that he can't act on that because 'he's celibate.' The truth is found out later (he has mouth herpes, which makes Grace smoking on the same thing he smoked a bit icky since they shared the same thing). Archie points out to Chevy and the other band members that "this band will be dead in five years and we'll have to get real jobs in Toronto." Archie towards the end quits the band on stage a la BJM and finally tells Grace the truth about why 'he's celibate.' "Thanks for the mouth herpes before you go to Amsterdam!" as Archie recounts what happened.

The movie has a kind of Bertolucci's The Dreamers dynamic at first, but settles into being a 'coming of age' story for Grace. Grace after blowing her advance and owing her roommate (Juliette Gariepy) two months worth of rent has to go home; her mother has to be the one to tell her to go to the Merge Weekly office and tell her boss (Jay Baruchel) to give her the money. Oftentimes in these 'coming of age' movies, the main characters are truly 'noble' and 'heroic' at the start of the movie. With Grace, the truth is vastly different; she felt like she had no choice but to have an affair with her boss. Towards the end, she acknowledges her part and her realization that she was wrong. She tells her boss that he was wrong too and she deserved more than she received, her articles needing to be restored to the website, and her talent recognized. She walks out and takes a bus ride back with a check for $4000.

After doing this, Grace makes amends with her roommate for the rent, she pays back her publisher for not fulfilling her work, and she tells Chevy that "I'm over you and you're not special" as he attempts to make out in public with her again. There's something gratifying and relieving to see Grace grown at the end of her journey. She reads her essay on the open mic community, which describes herself as being part of a semicircle. She finally kisses Archie in the band's van as the rain pours down when the movie ends.

Director Chandler Levack made something that women go through seem palpable even to men. Mile End Kicks isn't a classic movie, but it's an exceptionally well done movie. I noticed a scene where Grace talks about what Jagged Little Pill means to her to Chevy and she only gets the response of "Yeah." That one utterance speaks to how even in independent music, it's still a 'boys' club.' It can be argued that Jagged Little Pill is a commercial rock record, but the fact that it got released at all and spoke to so many people meant something. For Grace, it meant a lot.

For me with this movie, the semicircle should be wider. A music community should be open, free, expressive, and accommodating to everyone. Everyone's truth is real and viable to them. Men like me who wear Vans shoes bought at a store called Mile End Kicks should be willing to let women feel heard and seen and accepting of small mistakes like confusing Zen Arcade and Double Nickels on the Dime. Not just fumbling around in the dark while grabbing at the women's body parts awkwardly while lamenting and wondering if the person doing it truly has an artistic voice. Not outing the bass player (Isaac Lehtinen) when he didn't want that during the band's first scenes (fuck you Chevy for that). Men like Chevy should get pushed out, while women like Grace should be allowed in.

Bravo to Chandler Levick.

Thanks for championing this movie here. Even so, I had my expectations in check going in on this one and it totally overdelivered. I agree with it 'isn't a classic movie, but it's an exceptionally well done movie'. That said, this type of a movie often does enter 'classic' status with far less craft or accomplishment that what they achieve here. This movie feels destined to find a pretty big enthusiastic audience of fanatics - at least cult status. That trailer with the by the numbers (grossly overplayed) MGMT tune and misguiding tone really did this movie a disservice. It's also a reminder you can't judge a movie by a bad trailer. The twee elements I worried might overwhelm the movie were never a problem. Further, Levack made a lot of really good choices here. For one, I like how unafraid the movie is to get down and dirty. That looseness really helped propel a lot of what felt most real and natural. She also did a very good job with the music. Very happy to hear old friends and colleagues in the background of this soundtrack. Add to that a tasteful and on point score - this is not at all a given for a music related movie. I find more often these kinds of movies fail in that regard. I felt pretty giddy about seeing Toronto and Montreal on the screen, and that's very much a nod to the solid cinematography choices- this my first time seeing the work of DOP Jeremy Cox. Add to all that great performances throughout. This is my first time seeing Barbie Ferreria, and I was thoroughly impressed. The Chevy character was very well cast - what a voice on Stanley Simmons (didn't realize I was watching 'Mike Von Erich'). Great job there, that's not an easy role to convince with. I was especially taken by Devon Bostick's Archie, who is really good, but that's at least in part because he acts/looks like the spitting image of one of my best friends - somebody I'm reminded I haven't seen in far too long. Oh, and loved Jay Buruchel in the boss role. I really liked that story, and how Levack navigated it. I agree with your assessment that 'Levack made something that women go through seem palpable even to men'. I also think she nailed the lame tone of pretentious music nerd gatekeepers at that time. I didn't have the same experience as Grace, but coming from a more rural area where I wanted to find more ppl (get more ppl) into the music I liked, I found that kind of attitude irritating if kinda laughable.  This is just one of many relatable aspects of the movie that I maybe hoped for, but certainly didn't expect. Yeah, highly recommend Mile End Kicks!

[J.H.]

 

JR: By Gawd what a thunderous clothesline!

Werner: Like a thundering storm hitting a dense forest it strikes, blowing away the trees in it's path. So much wood is lost, scattered to the wind. The nearby village has lost any hope to build that grainhouse. All that is left is sorrow!

JR: and don't forget, there is a brand new Silk Stalings... NEXT!

James

 

[Technico Support]

Werner: JR, can you tell me more about the time your father punished you by making you drown a bag of puppies?  I find it endlessly fascinating.  Did that affect your approach to wrestling?

JR: (throws down headset and runs off crying)

[J.H.]

Herzog: Now is the time when I interview Terry Funk. He is a man of unquestionable insanity yet a kind of empathy no one cares to expect...,or cares to admit 

Terry Funk: Thank you Werner, you truly are agentleman. Unlike that egg sucking dog Dusty Rhodes!

James

Edited April 25 by J.H.

[Andrew POE!]

I think Werner Herzog would get along with Terry Funk somehow too. Add Klaus Kinski to the picture and even Funk would be like, "that man is crazier than a bag full of cats." 

[Andrew POE!]

4 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Thanks for championing this movie here. Even so, I had my expectations in check going in on this one and it totally overdelivered. I agree with it 'isn't a classic movie, but it's an exceptionally well done movie'. That said, this type of a movie often does enter 'classic' status with far less craft or accomplishment that what they achieve here. This movie feels destined to find a pretty big enthusiastic audience of fanatics - at least cult status. That trailer with the by the numbers (grossly overplayed) MGMT tune and misguiding tone really did this movie a disservice. It's also a reminder you can't judge a movie by a bad trailer. The twee elements I worried might overwhelm the movie were never a problem. Further, Levack made a lot of really good choices here. For one, I like how unafraid the movie is to get down and dirty. That looseness really helped propel a lot of what felt most real and natural. She also did a very good job with the music. Very happy to hear old friends and colleagues in the background of this soundtrack. Add to that a tasteful and on point score - this is not at all a given for a music related movie. I find more often these kinds of movies fail in that regard. I felt pretty giddy about seeing Toronto and Montreal on the screen, and that's very much a nod to the solid cinematography choices- this my first time seeing the work of DOP Jeremy Cox. Add to all that great performances throughout. This is my first time seeing Barbie Ferreria, and I was thoroughly impressed. The Chevy character was very well cast - what a voice on Stanley Simmons (didn't realize I was watching 'Mike Von Erich'). Great job there, that's not an easy role to convince with. I was especially taken by Devon Bostick's Archie, who is really good, but that's at least in part because he acts/looks like the spitting image of one of my best friends - somebody I'm reminded I haven't seen in far too long. Oh, and loved Jay Buruchel in the boss role. I really liked that story, and how Levack navigated it. I agree with your assessment that 'Levack made something that women go through seem palpable even to men'. I also think she nailed the lame tone of pretentious music nerd gatekeepers at that time. I didn't have the same experience as Grace, but coming from a more rural area where I wanted to find more ppl (get more ppl) into the music I liked, I found that kind of attitude irritating if kinda laughable.  This is just one of many relatable aspects of the movie that I maybe hoped for, but certainly didn't expect. Yeah, highly recommend Mile End Kicks!

Wow, thanks for that! Glad you liked it too!

Yeah, the movie made me want to go to Toronto and Montreal (Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie made me want to see the CN Tower and see if anyone was going to skydive from it too). 

[zendragon]

11 hours ago, J.H. said:

If he isn't doing commentary what is the point?

James

New Idea: when I become a millionaire doing WWF Rifftrax with Werner Herzog 

[J.H.]

The thing is, Herzog has admitted to watching WWE on Conan O'Brien's podcast. Life is stranger than fiction 

James 

 

[J.H.]

2 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

I think Werner Herzog would get along with Terry Funk somehow too. Add Klaus Kinski to the picture and even Funk would be like, "that man is crazier than a bag full of cats." 

Terry Funk v. Klaus Kinski is the Mania match we never got but by by God we deserved!

James

[zendragon]

What would be the pro wrestling version of Fitzcarraldo?

[J.H.]

The Set-Up: It is a quiet day at the Double Cross Ranch. Terry Funk saddles a horse as Werner Herzog walks toward him. They shake hands as Funk helps Herzog on the horse. They smile at each other, laugh even.

Terry goes to get his horse when out of nowhere Klaus Kinski comes running from the barn with a vial of sulfuric acid. He tosses it towards Herzog but Terry dives in tbe way. Funk is blinded as Kinski runs away cursing at Funk. Dory Funk Jr comes running from the house, brandishing a towel for Terry Herzog leaves his saddle and k ewls beside Terry. "Such madness of the soul!" Herzog says as Dory covers Terry's eyes.

Well, we got the angle, anyone tried the Terry Funk promo that would follow?

James

Edited April 26 by J.H.

[zendragon]

You missed the part where Terry punches out the horse

 

[Andrew POE!]

3 hours ago, J.H. said:

The Set-Up: It is a quiet day at the Double Cross Ranch. Terry Funk saddles a horse as Werner Herzog walks toward him. They shake hands as Funk helps Herzog on the horse. They smile at each other, laugh even.

Terry goes to get his hote when out of nowhere Klaus Kinski comes running from the barn with a vial of sulfuric acid. He tosses it towards Herzog but Terry dives in tbe way. Funk is blinded as Kinski runs away cursing at Funk. Dory Funk Jr comes running from the house, brandishing a towel for Terry Herzog leaves his saddle and k ewls beside Terry. "Such madness of the soul!" Herzog says as Dory covers Terry's eyes.

Well, we got the angle, anyone tried the Terry Funk promo that would follow?

James

"Where is Klaus Kinski?"

"He's not here, Terry, he's in Peru."

"You're a liar. You're on Kinski's side. The referee is on Kinski's side. You idiots are on Kinski's side. Evidently, the airplane people are on Kinski's side because they told him to get out of here." 

*Funk proceeds to punch a chair and hits himself with a chair*

"This area is horse country and I'm staying here." 

"Let's take a break, we'll be back."

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today...

Irreversible (Mubi, leaving on 4/30) - 5/5 stars

Spoiler

Irreversible is everything that its reputation has and more. But the thing with it is as the story is told in reverse (that Gaspar Noe did later in Climax), it's much more than that.

The movie starts (or rather 'ends') with two people on a bed; a man called The Butcher (Philippe Nahon) tells his friend (Stephanie Drouot) about how he raped his daughter. "You want me to say it? Time destroys everything," he says. The camera work mirrors what happens as Marcus (Vincent Cassel) is taken away on a stretcher and Pierre (Albert Dupontel) is arrested. The camera is upside down, sideways, and almost nauseatingly so. There's no other way to depict what happened.

Pierre and Marcus are looking for Le Tenia (Jo Prestia), who raped Marcus' girlfriend and Pierre's ex-girlfriend Alex (Monica Bellucci) after she left a party. The thing is Pierre and Marcus kill the wrong guy; the perpetuator is still alive and still freed after what he did - the underworld way or the 'street justice' way even gets it wrong after two guys direct Pierre and Marcus towards finding the guy. The chase becomes after another person too - in a lot of ways, the chase resembles a journey into hell as Pierre and Marcus walk through Paris streets and talk to prostitutes, then go into a cab, then stealing a cab, then riding to a club called Rectum and finally journeying through the club.

The thing with the movie is the bulk of what happens is within the r*pe and within the party; the camera is steady, straightforward, and seemingly focused. Gaspar Noe wants you to be aware of the events. There's a lot of emotions riding into it with Alex; Alex's r*pe is outside of her control. At the party (and earlier in the subway ride), being in control is at the center for Alex.

What's interesting to me is what the subway scenes and the conversation between Marcus, Pierre, and Alex reveals; the relationship between men and women in love has components that are acceptable to those in it. In some ways, the relationship between Marcus, Pierre, and Alex resembles that of Jules Et Jim although there's a less of a competition between Marcus and Pierre. Pierre is more resigned in life despite his still harboring feelings toward Alex.

Later (or "earlier"), this is expanded upon more as Marcus and Alex lie in bed. "You didn't 'steal anything,' I made my own choice," Alex tells Marcus. The idea of possessiveness of love is a male concept; males at our nature want to own and possess things, rather than recognize that a woman would make a conscious choice to love someone. Marcus' line to Alex about how "I want to fuck your ass" is practically chilling given what happens later/earlier to Alex in the tunnel.

Towards the end (or "the start") of the movie, Alex takes a pregnancy test then lies on a bed as classical music plays - the focus on the poster of 2001: A Space Odyssey tells what Noe is striving to make. The final (or first) scenes has Alex in a park as the camera spins around a sprinkler then headache inducing flashes of light occur - it's likely there was an image at the end/start, but I couldn't even see it. (I was more bothered by that than anything else).

In a lot of ways, I applaud and yet condemn Gaspar Noe for this movie. Irrerversible is not meant to be entertainment; it shows what a revenge story can lead to and how easy it is to get revenge wrong. The movie's politics and sexual discourse has a view of gay and transgendered people that's a bit rough to take and then contrasting that with how Marcus acts. Marcus acts invincible and takes Alex for granted; when he goes to look for the person who r*ped his girlfriend, Marcus doesn't think clearly or make the right decisions. It's easy to want to side with him, but at the same time, I found myself wanting him to stop and think a second.

There's no other movie like Irreversible and there's no other director like Gaspar Noe.

I Swear (saw in the theaters) - 4/5 stars

Spoiler

The tricky thing about acting roles based on real people and based on real people with disabilities is how to have an actor perform the role without appearing as though the subject is being mocked or the performance is exaggerated. Much of the movie is with Robert Aramayo as John Davidson; Aramayo is able to make the character be more than the sum of its parts and Davidson more than his condition. It reminded me a bit of when Claire Danes played Temple Grandin; the cause of the person is highlighted (autism) as Danes played Grandin as human yet realistic in the portrayal.

With this, it's much the same.

What makes this movie somewhat difficult to watch is the sheer almost body horror of tourette's syndrome for Davidson. Not to mention the Scottish dialects take a bit of time to adjust for me as an American. Every family member of his essentially turns their back on him - his father David (Steven Cree) leaves him and his mother Heather (Shirley Henderson) has him sitting in front of the fireplace to eat due to his condition. John Davidson cannot control his condition; the cause of the condition seems to just appear one day. It could be stress of the school environment or the pressures of being a goalie on the football team with a scout looking at him. Who knows - the movie isn't interested in identifying the cause, as it is in presenting the condition and how John has to live with it.

There's something positively relatable and sad about the time lapse - John Davidson attempts suicide, but wakes up in the hospital. 13 years later, he's taking medication and living with his mother. The goal of a better life seems out of his reach as his life has passed him by. What causes the change is seeing Murray (Francesco Piacentini-Smith) and meeting his mum Dottie (Maxine Peake). With Dottie, there's a sense of acceptance for him. She tells him, "You don't ever have to say you're sorry here. Now out in the streets, you do, because they don't understand it."

With Dottie and Murray, life opens up for John Davidson. He works as a groundskeeper with Willie, I mean Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan). Tommy seemingly doesn't react to John's outbursts; this had me wondering if on one level Tommy has a slight form of Tourette's himself. Compared to highly learned individuals like school administrators and the judge during the case when John Davidson is beaten up for calling a random woman a slut, Tommy seems to understand and explain John Davidson's condition better.

Sadly, Tommy dies, which gives John a renewed sense of purpose as he becomes a head groundskeeper for the community center and begins to reach out to others with Tourette's syndrome. Having to personally explain and talk about it actually seems to help John Davidson manage his condition; he still has outbursts that he cannot control, but he's better able to have an outlet and help others also experiencing the same thing. The scene where he and a woman he met sit in a car and have outbursts together helps him and helps her too.

Towards the end, John Davidson goes to Nottingham and tries out a device that monitors him. The scenes with him walking around while wearing the device had me bracing for another outburst as the camera lingers on him. Davidson comes back to the doctor and tells her "I have felt like this since I was 14, I didn't feel it there." As is noted, this device isn't a cure, but does help someone like John Davidson manage his condition. Davidson takes a train ride back to Edinburgh and talks with a woman on the train as they remark about someone having a public outburst (hinting back to John's earlier outburst on the way to Nottingham).

While I love the acting performance of Aramayo as John Davidson, the rest of the movie isn't as revolutionary and doesn't contain as many standout performances from the other actors. I did like Maxine Peake as Dottie and Shirley Henderson gave Heather Davidson a smouldering anger to her reactions to John. There are great wide angle shots of Galashiels a few times in the movie. This type of movie fits with Temple Grandin as I mentioned and maybe The Diving Bell and The Butterfly too.

A lot was mentioned with this movie and Davidson's outburst during the BAFTAs towards Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo where he uttered a racial slur. Such words don't simply exist in a vacuum; during the movie and during the court scenes, it's acknowledged that Davidson says those things that are offensive without malicious intent. So the question then becomes how does someone like Davidson come to say those things? Should the blame really be in the environment and climate where a person like John Davidson first hears it, it goes into his head, and is uttered in public? Somewhere along the way in John Davidson's life, other people said those words to describe black people, even though Davidson doesn't believe those words.

Tourette's syndrome, at least depicted in the movie, acts as a form of a vocalization of a collective id without a cure. John Davidson isn't to be feared, or celebrated, but understood.

Eileen (Hulu, leaving on 4/30) - 4/5 stars

Spoiler

There's something Carol-like or even Tell It To The Bees-like to Eileen. The main character Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie) starts the movie fantasizing and masturbating with snow found on the ground as she observes a couple in another car. Eileen's life is unfulfilling - his father Jim (Shea Whigham) wanders into the streets drunk and Eileen's time is spent having to care for him. Her work life has her at a boys' prison, not respected there either. She sometimes fantasize about Randy (Owen Teague), although she never capitalizes on that.

All of that changes with the arrival of Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway). Rebecca is like Carol Aird from Carol with a bit of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada tossed in too. Hathaway has Rebecca present an air of sophistication and escape that Eileen desires from her small town life. The scene where they meet up for drinks and then dance to "Tell Him" and "What Happened To Our Love?" are moments of pure cinematic magic. Rebecca just elbowed a gun trying to grab at her and Eileen views Rebecca as her hero.

Eileen is late for work and it turns out that Rebecca isn't there; Eileen sleeps in Rebecca's office as a way to get close to her. Eileen continues her fantasies - as she fantasizes about killing herself with her dad's gun, or killing him with it. She sits in a bathtub as the phone rings for her with Rebecca wanting to see her.

It's when Rebecca and Eileen meet that the movie really changes. Rebecca is not in her own house and has Anne Polk (Marin Ireland) tied up in the basement. The movie has it becoming something like Thelma & Louise; Rebecca wants Eileen to commit crimes with her. The crimes are due to what Rebecca learns from Anne Polk's son Lee (Sam Nivola). Eileen is angered and shoots Anne with the two giving her sleeping pills.

What's interesting is that Eileen frames her father and Rebecca and Eileen agree to go to NYC together. Yet Rebecca never appears - Eileen hitches a ride and goes by herself, seemingly to never be caught or to be caught eventually. The movie ends with riding in the trunk; I imagine that Rebecca would have given up Eileen and framed her too. This is even with Eileen's father being framed too; if Rebecca and Eileen went together in the end, it would appear like doomed lovers wanting their fates together.

With this movie, I loved a lot of the cinematography and with having a very noir tinged lighting to it. The coloring is indeed evocative of Carol with a lot of browns and soft focus lenses used. It's surprisingly a great Hitchcock-like thriller.

Crocodile Dundee (Peacock, leaving on 4/30) - 2.5/5 stars

Spoiler

Quite honestly, the only reason why Crocodile Dundee works so well is it's a 'cinematographer's dream' of a movie. The shots of Queensland, Australia and of New York City (with numerous shots of the World Trade Center, which gives it a sad feeling watching in 2026) are so well filmed and just look great. Director Peter Falman uses a few cross fade shots and wide angle shots that give the movie a bit more pizzazz.

It's just holy shit at everything else in this movie.

For starters, there is no real conflict or plot to the movie. Mick "Crocodile" Dundee (Paul Hogan) does a basic 'fish out of water' story where reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski) comes to Australia to find out about him and interview him for articles in her newspaper. I think it can be easily said that Crocodile Dundee is a conservative movie - Dundee is asked about his political stances and about the arms race. "Not really my business" is his response; which can very much mean that Dundee doesn't wish to explore much in that area or to become knowledgeable outside of what he knows (very much a conservative trait if anything).

Mick Dundee does seem to agree with Aboriginal Australian causes although he states the argument is the land that belong to the Aboriginals isn't really 'owned' in any material sense.

What Crocodile Dundee does then is have Mick Dundee and Sue Charlton go back to NYC and there's some problematic aspects to it. What the movie chooses to show reflects a judgment and a viewpoint of the writers. Mick Dundee sees New York City as being strange and "the friendliest city in the world since 7 million people live here." Mick Dundee seems either oblivious or naive or both to what happens. The movie does a transphobic and homophobic joke (more than once even) about a woman that Mick Dundee meets at a bar. The cab driver that took him to the bar tells him that the woman is transgendered; Mick proceeds to grab at the woman's crotch for laughs and applause. Honestly, the joke in today's lens is insensitive; I imagine that in today's times, Mick Dundee wouldn't have done that and just asked politely to confirm.

This obliviousness and naivety continues when Mick Dundee meets two s*x workers outside and casually talks to them; their pimp arrives and Mick Dundee punches him out. It's not just that - he pours cocaine into a pan and hot water into it while a guy using drugs has to breath it in. I find it a hard time to believe that Crocodile Dundee wouldn't know about cocaine in Australia. Someone there would have brought in the drug one night at the pub.

Then of course, Mick Dundee gets mugged and pulls out his knife to scare off the muggers (almost Paul Kersey in Death Wish like too). Dundee gets attacked by the pimp and two guys working with him until the limo driver Gus (Die Hard and Family Matters favorite Reginald VelJohnson) hits them with his limo. (Another joke that sorta fails is Gus being asked 'which tribe' he's from).

What makes the movie somewhat fail is the fact that the relationship between Sue Charlton and Mick Dundee evolves into love too easily; Sue decides almost all of a sudden after her fiancee Richard (Mark Blum) proposed to her. It leads to a great final scene as Dundee walks over people's heads to get to her, but I don't know, I have a hard time even believing that Sue would just decide that after dating the same guy for years.

So to be honest, Crocodile Dundee is evocative of the 1980s and the politics of its time; this movie leans into trying to be a 'crowd favorite' and the type of movie that doesn't require a lot of thought to try to enjoy.

 

[odessasteps]

 

[Mister TV]

I’ve always preferred Crocodile Dundee II over the original, it’s way more silly in a fun way and there’s lines from it that I still quote today. 
 

Speaking of 1980’s Australian actors, I re-watched Bryan Brown in F/X the other night! If you’ve never seen it or haven’t seen it in ages check it out on Prime. 

[zendragon]

5 hours ago, J.H. said:

The Set-Up: It is a quiet day at the Double Cross Ranch. Terry Funk saddles a horse as Werner Herzog walks toward him. They shake hands as Funk helps Herzog on the horse. They smile at each other, laugh even.

Terry goes to get his hote when out of nowhere Klaus Kinski comes running from the barn with a vial of sulfuric acid. He tosses it towards Herzog but Terry dives in tbe way. Funk is blinded as Kinski runs away cursing at Funk. Dory Funk Jr comes running from the house, brandishing a towel for Terry Herzog leaves his saddle and k ewls beside Terry. "Such madness of the soul!" Herzog says as Dory covers Terry's eyes.

Well, we got the angle, anyone tried the Terry Funk promo that would follow?

James

We don't get to hear the promo we only get to watch Werner reacting to it on tape

 

[elizium]

13 hours ago, Mister TV said:

I’ve always preferred Crocodile Dundee II over the original, it’s way more silly in a fun way and there’s lines from it that I still quote today. 
 

Speaking of 1980’s Australian actors, I re-watched Bryan Brown in F/X the other night! If you’ve never seen it or haven’t seen it in ages check it out on Prime. 

F/X 2 is also a lot of fun. I'm not usually into making lots of sequels, but I wouldn't have minded if we got 3-4 F/X movies. Great premise for a series popcorn action flicks

[odessasteps]

I wonder if FX was too meta at the time. A series where the protagonist is Hollywood FX guy would prob work better now. 

[J.H.]

FX is really fun, as is the sequel. I think it was really a love letter to practical effects, knowing that the future would be CGI unfortunately 

James

Edited April 26 by J.H.