Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I've have seen parts of The Adventures of Prince Achmed (it came on late), and enjoyed what I saw, pretty amazing.
Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I've have seen parts of The Adventures of Prince Achmed (it came on late), and enjoyed what I saw, pretty amazing.
Slow West--is a western where a young man hires a tracker to help him find his lost love. Along the way they meet various people some good, some bad. I like the unusual turns in it. I enjoyed it.
Sunshine Cleaning--is a movie I'd never heard of. The story revolves around a family, their family business, and mainly two sister played by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. The story is poignant, sad, funny, happy.
Braindead UK or Dead Alive US version--quirky zombie, contagion movie by Peter Jackson, up on Youtube.
I saw Wake In Fright (the original) again a few weeks back, the first time in many years. It's still one of the most oddly disturbing films I ever took in. As a Holocaust-historian I've always tried to locate the one artistic statement to plausibly portray the "natural/organic" morphosis of responsible rationality into negative mental transcendence allowing for animalesque grit to take hold, purvey and prevail, yet until now I never really thought of this singuar narrative so exquisitely presented by Ted Kotcheff. Still it's basically all here; the omnipresent individual attraction of grand enpowerment, the momentuous impulse to comply with instinct rather than tedious reason, the voice of force in nature rather than the beauty of its observation.
And Donald Pleasence was -incredible- on offered the chance. His character here remains among the most realistically resonant and terrifying in the movies, reminiscent of so many lunatics I've stumbled upon through my years as random weekend-whisky nighthawk. Fantastic film, one of those which enlarges your understanding of the prosaic world so effortlessly, without even alluding to the intellectual depths of surrealism; this one is rather one of few truly "dirty-realist" flicks I saw.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Kingdom of Silence--I watched this last night on Showtime and it's too complex to make a short synopsis about it, but it deals with the US and Saudi Arabia's relationship (it's had its ups & downs), and the death of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. It left me nonplussed in America's foreign relations: Do we really need a relationship with such cutthroat nations (fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia)? I don't know the full ramifications of it, but personally & humanistically I feel we should not. Maybe it's one of those things that comes down to: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Also free watch on Youtube.
Harry Browne
On Prime, starring Michael Caine. Caine is an elderly widower who is tired of the punks that terrorize his apartment complex.
This film was a lot darker than I expected. Caine is quite good.
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
Parasite (2019). Finally got around to seeing this. I can see why this won the Oscar for Best Picture but I can't fully judge until I've seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I've seen all the other nominees except for it, Jojo Rabbit, Little Women, and Marriage Story, but I suspect those last three don't come close. And I'll wager I'd still vote for Joker.
The Babysitter (2017). On Netflix. Synopsis: When Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot baby sitter belongs to a satanic cult that will stop at nothing to keep him quiet.
I was in kind of a frivolous mood when I watched this and expected the movie to be, as well, maybe geared a little toward the teen crowd. It's surprisingly better than that. Yeah, it's got its share of tropes, but what it's also got going for it is some dark humor and a level of gore above the norm. I liked it. I really did.
Black Death (2010). Ran across the DVD at the library. Synopsis: Set during the time of the bubonic plague in England (ca. 1349), a young monk (Eddie Redmayne) joins a knight (Sean Bean) and his group of religious mercenaries to investigate a small village that has had no casualties from the plague, believing it to be the work of a necromancer.
I've long had an interest in Old World superstition and the persecution of witches/Devil worshipers/etc. It's why I loved The Witch. I hoped this would be a really good movie but it's not. It's not bad, mind you. Just not anything special, particularly.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Started watching The Stand last night, probably for the first time in 26 years. Will continue watching tonight (it is many hours long). Still seems to have some relevance today.
I remember Black Death. I have the DVD. Another mediocre old-world superstition/plague movie you might like(?) is Season Of The Witch (2011), with Nicholas Cage. My wife wanted me to get that one, some time after we first watched it. I, too, liked The VVitch. Another cool witch movie is the Korean movie, The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion (2018). No idea when Part 2 will come along, but color me interested. Nothing to do with Europe in the Middle Ages (set in modern-day South Korea), but a much better movie than either Black Death or Season Of The Witch.
Regarding the VVitch, my wife loved the "Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? A pretty dress? Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?" bit a little too much. It's become one of those lines we quote now and then.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Yep. We've got the pandemic, and some would argue we have the anti-Christ. (He isn't in Vegas, but he does have a history with casinos...)Originally Posted by spellbound
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
I saw The Stand and it was one of the few Stephen King movies I actually liked. Remember nothing about, tho.Started watching The Stand last night, probably for the first time in 26 years. Will continue watching tonight (it is many hours long). Still seems to have some relevance today.
I remember Black Death. I have the DVD. Another mediocre old-world superstition/plague movie you might like(?) is Season Of The Witch (2011), with Nicholas Cage. My wife wanted me to get that one, some time after we first watched it. I, too, liked The VVitch. Another cool witch movie is the Korean movie, The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion (2018). No idea when Part 2 will come along, but color me interested. Nothing to do with Europe in the Middle Ages (set in modern-day South Korea), but a much better movie than either Black Death or Season Of The Witch.
I'll have to look for the Korean movie. Thanks for the heads up.
As for the Nick Cage movie, his choice of movies has been highly suspect for a long time, since The Weather Man (2005), the last movie he starred in that I actually wanted to see. There's been a trend for quite some time now that after someone wins an Oscar, or even just nominated, they forgo making any interesting movies for the ones that pay them well and hopefully make beaucoup bucks at the box office. There have a been quite few actors/actresses that have done this but Cage is the poster boy.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
I have heard a lot of these things about Cage. I've seen some terrible movies he has starred in. But once in a while he does a good one. And more than a few are tolerable. Some I look at on the library or store shelf, and opt to leave them there, unviewed. They can't even make them sound good on the liner notes on the dvd cover. He's hit or miss; his movies will never be auto-buy for me, but some of them can be entertaining. I'm sure I've seen The Weather Man, but I don't remember it any more.As for the Nick Cage movie, his choice of movies has been highly suspect for a long time, since The Weather Man (2005), the last movie he starred in that I actually wanted to see. There's been a trend for quite some time now that after someone wins an Oscar, or even just nominated, they forgo making any interesting movies for the ones that pay them well and hopefully make beaucoup bucks at the box office. There have a been quite few actors/actresses that have done this but Cage is the poster boy.
A word of warning about the Korean witch movie. It starts out slow. Hang in there.
Nick Cage was good in '18's Mandy but that was one bizarre movie.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I'm one of the 212.
My main memory is of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the "Monster Shouter."
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Some great casting in that version of The Stand. Matt Frewer as Trash Can Man was perfect.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Death Wish 2
Couldn't remember if I had seen this before, so I decided to check it out last night. ( I had )
Did not hold up well at all. The thugs were laughable. Especially the very young Lawrence Fishburne.
The Jimmy Page soundtrack was atrocious. Definitely a film for its time, and nothing more.
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
I still say the two best movies Nick Cage was ever in were Valley Girl and Raising Arizona.
I thought that one where he plays the crazy yuppie who thinks he is a vampire wasn't very good. For one, they blew it by giving away the fact that he's just coocoo for Cocoa Puffs too early, and on top of that, he had the weird...I dunno what it was, he sounded like he like he was in need of a nasal decongestant all the way through that one.
Really? I kinda liked Page's music there. Maybe the thugs were laughable, but I always like watching Bronson take out the trash, as it were. The fourth and fifth were the best, though. "Hey, Freddie! I'm gonna fix your dandruff problem for ya!" (Ka-BOOOM!)
But you should have known what you were gonna get when you say the Cannon Films logo at the beginning, and then saw Menahem Golan listed as producer.
We watched Raising Arizona about a week ago. Still fun.I still say the two best movies Nick Cage was ever in were Valley Girl and Raising Arizona.
They did put out an Alien doll when the first movie came out. I remember my first grade teacher asking us what we wanted for Xmas, and I said "An Alien doll" and she had no clue what I was talking about.But I don't think it faired well on the market, because, well, as you point out, it was merchandise connected to an R rated horror movie. Anyway, as I recall, my parents couldn't find the doll anywhere (or maybe they just decided that it was too disturbing looking or whatever).
Well, looking at Youtube, because I was gonna post the commercial from 1979, which I actually do remember seeing, I see there were also toys for the subsequent movies, which I don't remember at all, but here's the proof:
(Dammit, did I really just reply to a post from 2018?!)
Yeah, that was a good movie.
"I found myself passing convenience stores that weren't on the way home"
"I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever's in the cash register"
You know he was in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, too, don't you? Albeit in a bit role. But my point is, you said "best movies Cage was ever in", not best roles. So, you think Valley Girl was better than...
Moonstruck
Wild at Heart
Guarding Tess
The Rock
Con Air
8mm
The Family Man
Adaptation
National Treasure
The Weather Man
I sure as hell don't. In fact, I don't think even Raising Arizona was better than some of those movies. I could have also mentioned Leaving Las Vegas, that Cage won an Oscar for, but it's an incredibly depressing movie.
My favorite Cage movies are Guarding Tess and Adaptation.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
It is truly dreadful. It was heavily cut when it was released, there was a huge furore here in the UK about it.
And frankly I would not want to see any more violence anyway, it had a gleeful nastiness about it that was uncomfortable to watch.
But for pure comedy value, you should watch Death Wish 3. Quite apart from the fact that it was filmed, very unconvincingly, in London standing in for New York, it is truly atrocious on every level.
And if Michael Winner had any sort of signature style in his later movies, then its just sheer badness.
You know, I don't think I have ever seen Charles Bronson in a film I actually enjoyed...
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
The Great Escape. Tunnel King. One of the 3 to actually escape. Name the other 2 .
Magnificent Seven!
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
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