Talk About Movies: Part 4

If you like movies you should try to see Seven Samurai in a theater.

I, of course, know who Pharrell Williams is and like a couple of his songs...but now I HAVE TO see his bio pic. Why?

It's in LEGO form.

You guys might like to watch Kurosawa's Stray Dog (1949) which takes place in real life post-War Japan like Godzilla minus -one. A new young police detective (Toshiro Mifune) in Tokyo spends the movie using every tactic he can in tracking down a thief who stole his gun. He travels into the real Tokyo underworld of the time which is full of starving desperate people. It is on Criterion and elsewhere.

I scrolled passed a YouTube video a couple of weeks ago that was talking about Streets Of Fire (1984) and that must've stuck with me because I had the urge to watch it again last night. That video was called "The Best Movie Ever (for 20 minutes)" and I think he's right. I saw it a good 25 times when I was a kid. I don't remember how I ended up seeing it so much, but it just always seemed to be on the TV (USA Network, maybe?) and I'd watch it every time. Watching it again last night and it held up in its own way. The YouTube video is well worth a watch, because a lot of the "non-20 minutes of GOAT" are so bizarre in so many ways. I'd go so far as to say that aside from that 20 minutes, it's "The Room" before "The Room". Loved it then, love it now, but in a different way.

Unfortunately, watching that also reminded me of a film that the lead actor was in before, and was also always on TV when I was a kid. My memory of that flick is about the same as Streets Of Fire, but Eddie And The Cruisers absolutely does not hold up. Not even a little bit. The only saving graces are that a couple of the songs are really great and the fact that it does seem like they really wanted to make something good. It just didn't work out. I'm surprised I loved it as a kid.

To top off the evening, I did the unthinkable and watched Eddie And The Cruisers 2: Eddie Lives. That might be one of the worst films ever made. There isn't a single thing about that wasn't bad or stupid. No saving graces whatsoever. Never saw it before, wish I never did at all.

I honestly think I would watch a 3rd Eddie And The Cruisers.... What the hell is wrong with me?? lol

This was worth watching just to see the one scene where the lead actress is on a dark lit street and she has to act like she is infected by the demon for about 60 seconds without any special efects. Quite an effort. Its about 1:30 into the film. I though this genre was over with but looks like it is still going. The TV series Evil is strong too. Creepy movie. Grade B for me as a whole.

Watched Hit Man last night. It's worth a watch, but it didn't blow me away. Perhaps it was too much time with the hit man's role as college professor or maybe I was a bit tired watching it. Nevertheless, the acting is really good.

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Yeah, not sure about all the hoopla over Hitman. It was...fine. perfectly serviceable. But I'm not going to remember anything about it except Glenn Powell channeling Tilda Swinton in one scene and the absurdly sexy female lead.

I gotta hard disagree with you guys (which is extremely rare) me and the wifey both loved hit man.

powell was so ridiculously charming and the whole cast was fantastic and it was just a really enjoyable way to spend some time.

if you want to watch a movie that is not realistic 100% of the time, Life is Beautiful is a wonderful film.

what we do in life matters. what kind of movies we watch (or make) matters. human beings are not called to murders, tortures, horror, gore, backbiting, reviling, sexual immorality, wickedness of all kinds, that which is enjoyed by the demons and the depraved. always try to find the innocence and beauty and love in the world, even in the darkest times.

+1. Life is Beautiful is a remarkable film and well worth a watch.

I loved Godzilla Minus One. Those things that haunt us from the past, keep us awake at night, or bring us nightmares need not haunt us forever. We can get better.

And this is wrapped up in a Godzilla movie.

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Well I did too, and stopped after hearing strange noises in the house, lol.

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Life is Beautiful is absolutely amazing. Ironically, I did not like it that much upon my first viewing/when it initially came out, as I felt that such a heavy subject as the holocaust, deserved to be treated with more of a realistic/existentialist touch as opposed to a fantastical escape...

Music biopics and he's only 51?

I do enjoy Bill Simon's podcasts (mainly basketball) and listen to some (selective) episodes of The Rewatchables, but God his strong takes/clickbait POV's are lol af 🙄 The most recent one on the movie Snapshot was a nice listen, but then Bill goes ahead and simply declares it as the best sports movie ever made lol. But anyhow, it got me thinking about the best sports films of all time, and for me, the grand majority were all boxing/fighting movies a la Creed (I and II), Rocky (I, II, Rocky Balboa), The Fighter, Cinderella Man, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby, Ali and then as far as other sports, Bull Durham comes to mind, Moneyball, Hoop Dreams, Ford vs Ferrari, maybe Hoosiers, but not much else in other sports, imho.

It is pretty intriguing how boxing films >>>>> any other sport movies and it is not even close

I am completely uninterested in any sports; the only ones I actually enjoy aren't really about sports. But I definitely liked Bull Durham, so it probably shouldn't qualify as truly being a sports movie.

Of course, IMO, the best sports-related movie ever made is Bad News Bears.

I think gambling movies probably easily outclass sports movies as well, if we exclude boxing, of course. And Bull Durham definitely a sports movie and a great one, imho.

Hoosiers
Rudy
Major League

The Hustler

Slap Shot

Don't sleep on North Dallas 40. There are tons of great sports movies. Gambling movies? There aren't many so we as gamblers cling to them but most aren't really that good in the bigger scope of things.

Hard disagree. The Hustler may be an all time top 5 for me. But the rest? I despised Uncut Gems. Owning Mahoney , The Gambler, California Split, Rounders all appeal to me as a gambler but they aren't really great movies. Good for sure and I love them because I love gambling themes but if I didn't those movies have little appeal.

To be fair every movie you listed (besides possibly Rounders) is critically acclaimed and well regarded by non-gamblers

Lots of sports movies are critically acclaimed as well? There simply more sports movies and the really good ones are fantastic. One of the better gambling movies (critically acclaimed) not mentioned is The Sting. But still there is no way there are more great gambling movies than great sports movies because there are simply more sports movies and more universal appeal.