Talk About Movies: Part 4

Not sexy as per say, but noteworthy af in terms of sexual arousal, is in David Cronenberg's Crash.

this is actually a very good point.

saw national lampoon's christmas vacation for the first time

it lacks meaningful characters and nothing about the plot is remotely compelling

you just don't care what happens and it's an odd fit

it's realistic enough that the absurdity of every situation feels very strange in the light of "no, this is not rick and morty, this is a real upper middle class suburban family with real world problems but they can force explosions every 10 minutes and be on fire and everything is a-ok and all the dozens of broken windows and other terrible calamities are fine - like the film literally begins with them jumping a snowbank in their family car and shrugging it off like they arrived without even acknowledging the crash - but this is still someone with real world problems we're supposed to care about?

the problems caused are all, without a doubt due to poor decision making (ie putting in a down payment on a luxury and unnecessary addition when doing so means you'll literally have no money for the holidays)

clark griswold is not remotely likeable, calls randos mean words for no reason, is a total inconsiderate prick to his neighbors, repeatedly fantasizes about cheating on his wife

but it kind of works

and all the scenes with the neighbors were incredible

Susan Sarandon in White Palace

As per the discussion about Shakespeare in the other thread...

Othello

this is precisely the point I was so ineffectually making above...

#1 The Tragedy of Macbeth staring Denzel Washington is reasonably good movie and interesting in how simple the scenery leaves room for you to concentrate on the words.

#2 The new Superman trailer almost feels like a bad joke. Showing Superman bleeding. The dog Krypto not being a bigger shepherd or retriever. What looks like maybe Johnathan Kent as a fat bald guy. Having a Green Lantern Corp of many to pick from and picking one with an orange bowl cut hairdo. Also one of the plainest looking actresses to every play Lois Lane. Etc.

going to go see Nosferatu on Xmas day in IMAX....also going to screenings of Flow and The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg this week...maybe I Saw the TV Glow tonight

Anything Ellen Barkin is going to capture my attention.
The scene I remember from Woman of the Dunes after 50 years is the bathing scene.

Eric Stoltz and Julie Delpy... Roger Avary's Killing Zoe

UoC is getting a new remaster 4k uhd release.. hence the theatrical release.

I am waiting on the Eggers until I hear some respectful reviews because I am starting to have some reservations.

That actress is far prettier than Margot Kidder IMO.

My new hobby is to read a book and then immediately watch the movie that I either haven't seen or haven't seen in ages.

Recent reads/watches have been:

Jurassic Park
Alive
Misery
The Shining

All books have been good. Misery was the best movie with The Shining being the worst.

If anyone has any recommendations......FYI I'm not a fan of the supernatural.

Just Cause (1995)
The film is overblown mediocre 90s nonsense, but the novel by John Katzenbach is really quite good.

Just Cause would definitely qualify. I have vague recollections of seeing the movie but can't say for sure if I did.

Thx.

Fatman (2020)
An evil kid, annoyed at receiving a lump of coal for Christmas from Mel Gibson's Santa, hires equally evil hitman Walton Goggins to kill him, in this surprisingly uneventful and lacklustre film, considering its premise. Has no business being classed as "action/adventure" on IMDB as nothing much happens in it. Although the final 20 minutes does have some somewhat entertaining action, it's too little too late. Watch Violent Night (2022) instead. It's pretty brainless but at least much more entertaining.

Lumberjack the Monster (2023)
A psychopathic lawyer survives a murder attempt by a masked serial killer and resolves to find him before the cops , in this stylish, if somewhat convoluted thriller/horror from Takeshi Miike, that's nowhere near as weird and not as good as some of his previous offerings, although still not bad overall.

Savage Streets (1984) ("Where the only law is an eye for an eye!")

Linda Blair is (big breasted) Brenda, leader of a tough gang of 80s schoolgirls. After her deaf mute sister is raped by an equally 80s looking street gang, Linda vows revenge and goes hunting them with a crossbow.
After the recent convo itt re pointless nudity in the 80s, I decided to revisit this agreeable trashfest which is chock full of pointless 80s nudity, as well as the obligatory 80s montage with 80s style lyrics like "Justice for one, justice for all
You get what you give when you've broken the law". It also won Linda Blair a razzie nomination for worst actress and is overall a definite yay.

.

This is crazy talk.
Except maybe for people who aren't fans of the supernatural.

I really liked both the book and movie of A Simple Favor. Same for Sharp Objects (a mini series). Both made some changes to the plot, enough that it won't spoil all of the twists having already read the book.

You must be a glutton for punishment...

like I said, it's a new hobby

but point taken

To Kill a Mockingbird is the classic movie/book combo.

Uh, this looks kinda good.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’d have gone neck deep into Scientology to be with Leah Remini back then….. Might actually check this one out.

Just finished the 4th of 5 of "My most forgotten 80s flicks that I saw more times than I can count and have no idea why but for some reason got a weird urge to watch them recently" (the other 4 being Streets of Fire, Eddie and The Cruisers, Mr. Mom and Big Trouble In Little China) and this one might be the most 80's of them all:

The Wraith 1986, staring Charlie Sheen, Randy Quaid, Clint Howard and an absolutely stunning Sherilyn Fenn

I'm not quite sure what genre this movie even is, but it's a bit of a sci-fi, a bit of an action, perhaps a dash of crime and thriller and a comedy, thought probably not on purpose. The plot is basically a dude comes back from the dead to get revenge on the gang that killed him by killing them in car races. This one was little cheaper, a little campier and more hard-rock than rock'n'roll with the soundtrack to match. It has one of the more uniquely creepy villains of the era, played by Nick Cassavetes, in that the character seem more of a leader of a post-apocalyptic cult than a bunch of car racing junkies. Very Mad Max, which is appropriate considering his sidekicks Skank and Gutterboy. Most of the kids in my day that were into cars loved Kit. **** Kit, I'll take that Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor every time!

It's damn good flick!