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At it again:
http://videogoogoo.blogspot.com/2012/06/video-goo-goo-automatic.html
You changed the name of your blog! Nice write up. I've never seen a Gruner movie. Sounds like I need to make AUTOMATIC my first.
Fun write up of some great B's: TICK...TICK...TICK, PRAY FOR DEATH, and BLACK EYE!
http://badassdigest.com/2012/06/24/vault-of-secrets-white-people-suck/
Love the props given one of my fave Jim Brown joints, and the Fred Williamson P.I. flick is one I'd never heard of. Sounds like one i may have to order.
Watching Wayne Wang's SLAM DANCE. Essential Adam Ant.
See also: Cold Steel (Dammit Elvis, when are you going to get around to this?), World Gone Wild.
I've seen the trailer for Slam Dance on the VHS for Straight to Hell that I rented a few years back. It saddens me that the death of one of my biggest crushes is central to the plot and I'm assuming that's why I haven't pulled the trigger on this one yet. I know that John Doe from the band X (who I saw in NYC a few years back) also appears in this.
Great write-up. To be honest I've just never been able to get into any of Gruner's films. Finally saw AUTOMATIC a few years back and while I didn't love it I'll go ahead and say it was his best. Would certainly take it over NEMESIS. Don't quite get the devotion so many have for that movie.
Saw the first CIRCUIT flick with Gruner. Drivel.
The Gruner joint I've always been a bit curious about is MERCENARY, in which Gruner teams-up (and gets top-billing!) with John Ritter:
Oddly though I have seen MERCENARY 2 where Gruner is partnered with Robert Townsend. No good.
Oh my god, is this the Real Men sequel we were all hoping for that got made when Belushi turned it down?
Oh goodness, I didn't even catch that Kove faux pas.
Since we're talking Gruner, what better excuse for a bi-annual posting of the trailer of SAVAGE:
Whoa! Another Gruner I've never heard of. I never remember seeing this posted on here. Kind of like the stupider cousin of the Cliffhanger trailer. And I really, really, really want to see it now.
Speaking of stupid, the appearance of the Republic Pictures Home Video logo is the perfect opportunity for our friend Erix to discuss something that makes me laugh to no end: THE STUPID PICTURES. Please Erix, please?
I saw A LONELY PLACE TO DIE starring Melissa George last night.
Nice little flick. It starts like a mountain climbing flick with some gorgeous photography and then turns into a nice little thriller.
Really well shot and pretty to look at.
The "Rupert Pupkin Speaks" blog is still doing a "Bad Movies We Love" series. Today this one stood out as one you guys would appreciate:
Bloodmoon (1997)
"Someone has been killing all the greatest fighters in the world (who all happen to live in the same town), and it’s up to serial killer profiler/martial arts expert Gary Daniels to take him out. The dialogue is bizarrely obtuse, the characters are either non-existent or distractingly broad caricatures (check out Frank Gorshin as the perpetually-angered Chief of Police), but the fight scenes are legitimately spectacular. Seriously, this is some of the most impressive martial arts choreography to come out of America in… geez, maybe ever. The movie surrounding those fights just happens to be undeniably – but highly enjoyable – crap. Any movie where the serial killer’s gimmick is cybernetic fingers – only two of them, mind you – is a winner in my book. And it looks like it was shot on a shoestring budget in 1985. I was literally shocked to learn that it was the product of the late 1990s. I really implore you to seek out Bloodmoon. It can’t become a cult classic until people start talking about it."
That really is the great mystery of RED SCORPION. I haven't listened to the Zito commentary but I wonder if that's addressed. My guess is the shoot went long and James said "Fuck this noise, I'm gone."
Watched the new SCORPION disc. A delightful restoration through and through. I can only hope more films of the era get this sort of loving treatment in the future.
Quite enjoyed the Lundgren interview. I've heard him talk a lot about his early days in show business but this was still a real engaging feature full of hearty anecdotes.
I highly recommend folks check out the extra with all the TV spots. It doesn't seem all that great at first because most of the ads are fairly similar to each other. But the last ad shown is amazing. It's one of those "Interview people after they've seen the movie" style ads and it's obviously an ad that was done to entice women to see RED SCORPION. It's full of ladies with giant 80's hair saying stuff like "Dolph is so hot!" or "What a body!"
Talking about TV spots, have you seen that hilarious French trailer cut with a soapy song onto it?!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xre62v_le-scorpion-rouge-b-a_shortfilms
Let me know what you think about the booklet notes!
Mentioned a couple days ago how much I enjoyed reading through the liner notes. Top-notch work. You should be very pleased with how they turned out.
Bloodmoon (1997)
It's been a while since i've seen this. But based on the clips I've seen, there are some top notch fight scenes here.
Mentioned a couple days ago how much I enjoyed reading through the liner notes. Top-notch work. You should be very pleased with how they turned out.
Missed that post I guess! I am especially proud since I had write them in no more than 4-5 pages (Word) which was a real challenge with I all there was to tell, and I had just been doing lots of interviews on RED SCORPION with notably the editor and the 1st assistant director who both gave me a lot of infos and anecdotes, the making of RS could take a book all to itself, at least a good 25 pages! And yeah they turned out pretty good for what it is, concise and yet covering quite a lot for such a complex production. (and now I could complete it with the new details I gathered from the first director attached, Duwayne Dunham). Glad Synapse announced their release before they even got it started otherwise none of this (or the DL interview) would have happened (even the Jack Abramoff interview came up late in the game, I don't know how they got him because I didn't)...
You're right that the whole production could be the basis of a book. One nutty story after the next.
Caught a Woo flick that I've always wanted to see, JUST HEROES:
It was actually co-directed by Woo and actor Wu Man. Pretty sure Woo directed most of it, his fingerprints are all over the action sequences. Film centers on 3 adopted brothers out to avenge the death of their crime boss father even though they all refer to him as their uncle. Something like that.
Good turn from Danny Lee in the lead, as well as David Chiang as the adopted son who wants no part in the criminal enterprises he grew up around. He just wants to be a humble fisherman. Though right as rain he still ends up blowing away tons of goons.
The melodrama in JUST HEROES is cranked up to 11. Lots of shots of characters looking forlorn or gazing longingly at other characters. A whole heap of tragedy involving the female participants in the film. One is almost run over by a car, survives, but has a miscarriage. Then another lady attempts suicide, fails, but then finds the strength to attempt suicide again. Second time was the charm.
As is usually the case, it's worth going through the melodrama to get to the bulletpalooza. JUST HEROES does not disappoint in this department. I love watching a Woo film and you come to a scene that takes place on a pier, a warehouse, or some abandoned junkyard. You know it won't be long until folks be getting capped.
I often roll my eyes when people bring up the homoerotic overtones in films like this, it's so easy to do that and has become cliche. That being said JUST HEROES contains a scene in which Danny Lee and David Chiang are about to each drink a celebratory glass of beer. They touch glasses and then proceed to blow the foam off their beers into each other's faces. Oh my.
Finale features a wild shootout with loads of blood and hot lead. Gotta deduct a few points though because once the gun powder settles it has to clumsily make the point that, as cool and exciting as it all was, it's wrong to be titillated by such carnage. Well I was titillated by the carnage and I will not apologize for my titillation.
That's a Woo I've not only never seen but strangely never even heard of. Netflix doesn't seem to have it (search takes you to ALMOST HEROES. Definitely not the same thing!)
It's one that I've seen for sale online on VHS but at a steep price. I finally gave in and watched it on youtube where it's broken up into three parts. Would love to see it get a decent release on disc here but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. It's not one I'd put in Woo's top tier of flicks, but it certainly fits fine one notch below as a solid effort.
There was a time, in the mid 90s, where my friend and I would find ourselves renting an incredible amount of Republic Pictures releases. The first one we rented was The Langoliers, which was okay and we liked it. Next, it was Crackerjack and downhill from there. It got so anytime we would see the Republic Pictures logo turn up, we would turn to each other and say: "the stupid pictures." And that later became shorthand for pretty much any imprint that was not one of the majors... So, PM Entertainment, CineTelFilms, Millennium Films, Asylum Entertainment... and so on. They all became "the stupid pictures."
Originally Posted by wadew1
...the annoying 30 year old daughter who acts like she's 12 seems to be getting more screentime...
No way, man. Liam training his daughter to be a badass after an incident like Taken is both logical and awesome.
I hated The FP.
wadew1, After seeing...GRACEful Maggie, escape a prison in...SPACE, I would not want her to get...LOST, whilist her father and mother are...Taken, by a...Mis...Taken villain, who is not...Taken by a...Miss, with a...Lethal Kiss, and moves that will sent him over the...Abyss! This October, Audiences will be...Taken Too another level in action cinema...Taken 2!
It was really f'n hot here today so I stayed in and watched a couple of movies. First up was the campy Sword & Sorcery flick Barbarian Queen starring the lovely Lana Clarkson. There's a lot of sword fighting, some amateurish looking blood and gore shots, and lots and lots of boobies. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon watch.
Next was the Casey Affleck movie The Killer Inside Me which I'd wanted to see for a while since they filmed part of it here in the town I live in. It was pretty meh, however. The story was kind of a mess and all of the main actors seemed to mumble their lines. Kate Hudson was wasted in her small role and a main character played by Elias Koteas just kind of disappears in the last 20 minutes or so. Where'd he go? Sure the violence is as brutal as advertised but so what? When your movie has little else to offer but the brutal beatings of two beautiful women, that's a troubling sign.
Hey duke, have you ever watched Iron Man: Armored Adventures? I'd never seen it until this weekend and while I really can't stand that animation style, the writing seems to be pretty solid (although I only saw two episodes). I like that Pepper gets her own suit!
About 7-8 years later, Woo lifted some action scenes from JUST HEROES right into BLACKJACK, same choreography, same editing, exact replication.
Wow. Just wow to that trailer. The movie looks like a really atrocious bit of WTF'ery but I do laugh that one of the ladies in the movie is Kristen Minter, i.e. someone who had a small role in Home Alone and is best known to me for being the lead girl in the all-time classic Cool As Ice.
Nice little flick. It starts like a mountain climbing flick with some gorgeous photography and then turns into a nice little thriller.
Really well shot and pretty to look at.
Yeah, she is well-shot and pretty to look at, but how's the film... OK, bad joke. However, I have heard nothing but good things about the movie so yeah it's something else which goes into the gigantic pile of cinema that I want/need to watch sometime in the future, no matter how many years it takes to get there.
I hadn't heard of it either. However, I know it came out the same year as The Killer and well, it's understandable why a movie would get overshadowed by something that incredible.
It turns out, my Netflix watching only consisted of watching TV shows of cops doing cop things; Disorderly Conduct is a rather entertaining show if you enjoy that sort of thing and hey, it's narrated by Robert Patrick. Sometime before I go to bed I'll at least try to watch a film.
One last thing: I found this on another site:
Personally, Sam Jackson dressed up like Nicki Minaj is more arousing to me than the actual Nicki Minaj! I do not have many nice things to say about her at all but I don't want to go on a long rant talking about a loathsome celebrity. Instead, I'll mention that I have zero idea what "beez in the trap" even means and I don't really care what it means either.
It sounds like you had quite the day there, Rene. I'll be interested in hearing about your wacky adventures sometime soon. I do know that I need to watch Tucker & Dale vs. Evil on Netflix Instant sometime this week.
Speaking of that service, I just finished watching a movie that you thought I would have seen given that it came out in the late 90's and it's a teen thing and I was a teen during those days. I only saw some of those movies back in the day; even back then I had unique tastes. Yeah, I continued my Cook-a-thon and I watched She's All That. I know, I know...
Sure, the movie is rather goofy and silly, and not just for the obvious that everyone makes fun of, which is that somehow a geeky Rachael was considered totally unappealing. The cast, the music, the vibe... it was quite the nostalgia trip down memory lane as it reminded me of those old days; yes I feel ancient considering how long ago that was but it's true. So it was a fine view this evening.
Plus, it made me laugh about such things like how Paul Walker has a big role in the movie and not surprisingly he plays a D-bag. It also reminds me of how Jodi Lyn O'Keefe was on Nash Bridges and her TV father Don Johnson was banging her for a time while the show was going on. Talk about creepy... but good job on his part!
Oh, and I laughed when I saw that The Sherminator had a small role in the movie. Hey, that's basically what he was in this movie too, but the character name they gave him, that being DEREK FUNKHOUSER RUTLEY made me laugh. Also making me laugh is that the film gave me a new term to use to describe mammary glands, that being bobo's. Works for me, and there were some women in the film who had nice... but anyway, you know what I mean.
Don't worry, Monday proper I'll watch a more traditional action movie.
Found some new TE2 pics.
Mister Falcon, I do not watch Iron Man Armored Adventures. There are...Some heroes I can enjoy seeing as teens of but not Iron Man. I have no problem with...Ultimate Spider-Man. Power Man and Iron Fist have not been animated much at all, so I still enjoy seeing them as teens. White Tiger is a...Legacy character. Unless you read...70's era Marvel, you might not have seen the original hero. There were...3 heroes that combined their powers to be White Tiger. The new Tiger is strictly one hero. The new Nova seems unnecessary. It might have made more sense to stop the team of heroes at...4. I am really excited for...HULK Agent Of S.M.A.S.H. A series with...HULK, RED HULK (General Thunderbolt Ross), SHE HULK, SKAAR (Son Of HULK) and even...A BOMB (Rick Jones aka BLUE HULK). I am hoping that...AVENGERS ASSEMBLE will live up to the...Awesomeness of Earth's Mightiest Heroes! I think the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will have similar...PUNishing humor, to the...original cartoon. I am hoping for that. I did not enjoy the last one. I would love to see some network bring...Space Battleship Yamato 2199 to the US. I have seen a couple of trailers, clips of the new Yamato. I think it will be...Awe-Inspiring and All kinds of Awesome!
THE IDAHO TRANSFER is a cool little sci-fi flick. Not as great a Fonda directorial effort as THE HIRED HAND, but moody, and impressive for what it is. A shame Fonda never got a chance to direct post-70's.
My "Special, Uncut, Unrated" version of the Baldwin/Basinger THE GETAWAY arrived today. Will hopefully watch it tonite.
Pathetic. Apparently this is what they are calling it in Canada.
I'm more offended by the lame-ass tagline they used and the uber-generic image for the cover rather than the uber-generic title it has now. Poor El Gringo.
I happened to go to the local Blockbuster today. I got Predator. Sure, it's the shitty Blu-Ray but I'll still enjoy it. I do not have a good explanation for why I only have the film on VHS. I need to rectify that sometime soon.
I made sure to get something manly as I rented something else and who knows how manly it'll be. It's known as The Family Tree, and it came out last year. Yep, I'm continuing my Cook-a-thon and I understand it's a dark comedy and it has quite the cast. The famous guys include Dermot Mulroney, Chi McBride, Keith Carradine, and for who knows what reason, there's the rapper best known now as Bow Wow. It's the ladies which attracted my attention. There's a bevy of beauties, including Rachael, Selma Blair, Madeline Zima, Gabrielle Anwar, the GILF known as Jane Seymour, and Rene's favorite Christina Hendricks. Not to be an R-rated fleed, but The Family Tree just may make me... sport a woody!
I'll mention if it's any good or not either late tonight or tomorrow afternoon.
With those ladies, The Family Tree may give me splinters.
That said, I'm back home. Finally I can use my laptop again and I don't have to be typing on my iPhone. Right now Vanessa and I are watching Jackie Chan and Danny Aiello in The Protector. It's one of the dvds I got my hands on. I haven't seen it since I rented the vhs several years ago. It's some bloody good Glickenhaus!
As for some of my stories, yesterday at the second flea market we went to, I found a painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS for 8 bucks. It's a fairly large painting, and my friend was liking it, but he didn't have enough cash on him, and I figured it would look good in my house. Further along we went into a place that had lots of movies, and games. Plus the owner was letting all kids in while he chatted up people as he sipped on his CORONA. He seemed a bit inebriated, and it was only mid day. After that, as we were walking to the parking lot, my friend found a softball. So that went into the car as my painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS went into the trunk.
Also when we were in Austin, we got "had" by a bum for $5. Since we couldn't park on a side street, we had to park in one of those car lots. As we parked, this black guy comes over and tells us "Hey how are you? It's 5 bucks to park here." then my friend paid him, and we went about walking. After the movie, we go back to the parking lot, and there's a tag on the car for $15. The guy who owned the car lot happened to be there and we told him the story about who we thought was an employee. He was a nice guy. Indian. An Indian from India. I paid the 15 bucks, because he could have easily had the car towed, but as he said "I'm a nice guy, I know things happen. You come back, you pay, no problem." We shook hands with him, and my friend gave him the tag that was put in his car, and he said he'd keep a lookout for this guy.
So in 2 days, we got had by a bum for 5 bucks in Austin, I got a painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS, and we found a softball in the parking lot of a flea market.
A week from today Sony Movie Channel is showing COLD STEEL. DVR set.
Geek Out Q of the Day: HEAT or GOODFELLAS? That's a tough one. For me, HEAT by a nose for being a Bobby D./Pacino summit meeting.
None of you guys have an opinion on this one? I thought for sure it would spark an interesting debate/conversation.
None of you guys have an opinion on this one? I thought for sure it would spark an interesting debate/conversation.
As much as I love Michael Mann and HEAT, there's no question here. GOODFELLAS IS cinema. It's amazing, transcendental. It's both reverent to cinematic history and pushing boundaries into the future.
It's neat.
Fuck snitches.
None of you guys have an opinion on this one? I thought for sure it would spark an interesting debate/conversation.
I agree with Keith. When the aliens come and ask to understand aspects of our culture, GOODFELLAS will/should be one of the movies shown to showcase what cinema is always about.
BUUUUUUT, on a personal level HEAT just does it for me every time. From Wayne Groh, to Val Kilmer, to Bobby D, to Pacino, that phenomenal downtown shoot out, quotes I use weekly in life "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner."
Watching THE GETAWAY remake: Michael Madsen has an awesome mullet. And interesting casting: slimy mode James Woods in for Ben Johnson and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in for Bo Hopkins. On a negative note: Basinger being out-acted by ghost of Ali McGraw.
Ha, in the 90's version, Doc gets slapped back by his wife. A nice slight subversive twist of the original's most infamous scene.
Kind of surprising, but Sally Strothers > Jennifer Tilly
Fat Elvis, I of course...Have An Opinion. It may be different than your...Expectations. Heat was...Warm. Goodfellas, is barely watchable. In terms of mafia pics, I will...EEEEasilly take either...Punisher War Zone or The Punisher (89)! I prefer to see the gangsters, gangstas or gangbangers...Dead! Give me a hero or anti-hero any day of the week. Back to back nights I chose to accept the mission...to watch...Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol and re-enter...Carter Country, seeing John Carter saddled with a...THARKless backstory of a wife and daughter which were not in the original tomes of Edgar Rice Burroghs, but were added. The wife and daughter added...Weight, but not in the way the director and screen writer intended. The weight...Dragged the story for those not steeped in...Pulp...Science...Fiction as others like me.
Jennifer Tilly not being as good as Sally Struthers? That's madness, Elvis! Jennifer Tilly outdoes her!
The big hotel shoot out grand finale is okay, but Roger Donaldson, who i like, is no Peckinpah.
As much as I love Michael Mann and HEAT, there's no question here. GOODFELLAS IS cinema. It's amazing, transcendental. It's both reverent to cinematic history and pushing boundaries into the future.
It's neat.
Fuck snitches.
Like I said, it's a tough one. You're totally right on GOODFELLAS being both reverent to cinematic history and pushing boundaries, but HEAT has the two great actors of (post-Brando) modern cinema, at the tops of their games, meeting up and facing off, and a climatic third act gunfight that is balls to the wall awesome. I respect and revere both films, but if i had to choose only one to watch over and over again, for me, HEAT wins out. I do take back what I've said in the past, that i prefer CASINO to FELLAS. On my last viewing, I came to my senses, and flipped my preference back to the way it should be.
Overall I like Goodfellas better than Heat, but Heat has so many parts in it I love. One of my favorites is that entire scene towards the end of Pacino and Wes Studi in the elevator, and then we follow them to Henry Rollins' apartment. The bank shootout is of course amazing.
Although when we're talking Casino and Goodfellas, well then it's not a hard choice. Casino.
As for some of my stories, yesterday at the second flea market we went to, I found a painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS for 8 bucks. It's a fairly large painting, and my friend was liking it, but he didn't have enough cash on him, and I figured it would look good in my house. Further along we went into a place that had lots of movies, and games. Plus the owner was letting all kids in while he chatted up people as he sipped on his CORONA. He seemed a bit inebriated, and it was only mid day. After that, as we were walking to the parking lot, my friend found a softball. So that went into the car as my painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS went into the trunk.
Also when we were in Austin, we got "had" by a bum for $5. Since we couldn't park on a side street, we had to park in one of those car lots. As we parked, this black guy comes over and tells us "Hey how are you? It's 5 bucks to park here." then my friend paid him, and we went about walking. After the movie, we go back to the parking lot, and there's a tag on the car for $15. The guy who owned the car lot happened to be there and we told him the story about who we thought was an employee. He was a nice guy. Indian. An Indian from India. I paid the 15 bucks, because he could have easily had the car towed, but as he said "I'm a nice guy, I know things happen. You come back, you pay, no problem." We shook hands with him, and my friend gave him the tag that was put in his car, and he said he'd keep a lookout for this guy.
So in 2 days, we got had by a bum for 5 bucks in Austin, I got a painting of THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS, and we found a softball in the parking lot of a flea market.
Yeah it does sound like you had an interesting day there. I can see that you're trying to class up your joint by getting some legit artwork. For some reason I can imagine you having 80's B-movie posters framed all over the walls of Casa del Rene.
Yeah I'll agree. Although, I haven't seen either film so I can't compare the performances that they give. Just talking about looks, I'd also go with the brunette.
And of course I don't get Sony Movie Channel, so I'm shit out of luck there.
Listening to tonight's discussion reminds me I need to rewatch all three movies in question. It's been far too long with all of them.
Here are two funny notes from tonight: there's nothing quite like hearing your own mother say that she and her friends want to see the movie Magic Mike! I imagine that's one Soderbergh film exactly zero people around here are going to see, but not surprisingly I know more than one or two ladies who are eagerly anticipating it. I wonder how many of them realize who the director is and some of the films he's done in the past. I decided not to go in that direction with my mom.
Finally, for you fans of Carlos Irwin Estevez, he's going to be on the 1000th episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on July 23. I didn't see it; I just heard about it. For the night he has the incredibly stupid title of "Celebrity Social Media Ambassador"; basically it means that he's going to be there to watch the show and he's going to Tweet about it. Really. It's a TV-PG product so he's going to be clean on that night. Doesn't sound like winning to me.
I've been meaning to get some 80's posters so I can put up, but I've heard frames can run pretty pricey.
Speaking of Magic Mike, they showed a preview of it, and Vanessa said she wanted to see it along with her Mom, but I could tell she was joking. Well, I hope she was.
A little while ago I finished up watching The Prodigy. It's a movie I've read about on here, and never got around to seeing it while it was on Instant, and found it for 4 bucks. It's basically Saw meets an action movie. For such a low budget feature though, it's got TONS of action, and some really brutal hand to hand combat. I recommend it solely for those 2 things.
Right now I'm watching First Action Hero. Pretty silly as I was expecting. Fabio Testi looks a little rough, but he still also looks to be in top physical shape, and pulls off the role good so far. Gabriele Ferzetti also shows up, and he's always a good thing to see in movies. It's not a great movie, but it's not a flat out terrible one. The score is pretty upbeat and kind of funny at times.
Won't be able to finish it tonight though, as I've been tapped to do some substituting tomorrow morning. No complaints here. Always good to get some extra cash in my pocket.
I have a poster of SUDDEN IMPACT in my TV room.
So the second movie to be shown at the Slumber Party at Circle Cinema in Tulsa will be...STONE COLD! OK, now I'm seriously thinking of going.
I finally got around to seeing John Carter (of Mars) tonight and thought it was pretty good. I didn't think the wife/daughter backstory added much, but they didn't dwell on it too much. There's still plenty of sci-fi action on hand and I thought the special effects and creatures looked good, but not outstanding. I also thought Mars would be a little more, you know, red. Anyway, I had a good time watching it but I had to see it on my sister's tiny 32-inch TV. I might watch it again on my 52" before I take it back to the redbox.
As to the discussion regarding Heat and Goodfellas:
Goodfellas>Casino>about a million other crime movies>Heat (not really a fan as you can tell)
I've been meaning to get some 80's posters so I can put up, but I've heard frames can run pretty pricey.
27" x 40" poster frames can be had for under 20 bucks. I ended up getting 5 of them for my living room from various Wally Marts. They're "cheap" frames, but they look fine.
Oh, Soderbergh's Magic Mike. Yeah, I just don't get this as a Soderbergh choice. I know he likes to mix things up and play with audience expectations but... Could this be something more than a cash grab commercialism move to appeal to the beefcake fans who seek a movie to see? (Not that there's anything wrong with that but it's something I'd expect from a Garry Marshall or a Brett Ratner and not necessarily Soderbergh.) Is Channing Tatum's role here some sort of payback for casting Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience? (If so, it shouldn't be. TGE was an unsensationalized, artsy and somewhat obtuse narrative think piece that was all intellect with little emotion, especially in that less-involving alternate DVD cut, and not a glitzy pseudo rom-com meant to be lively or entertaining. As a Soderbergh fan, even I must say TGE felt like short-change.) Then again, Soderbergh did give us Sex, Lies and Videotape. One of best-written and most sexually charged independent films I've seen.
I hope there's a better story there in Magic Mike than is being hinted at by the trailer. And I'm just not in the Tatum camp. I find him as dull as dishwater, though I still haven't seen Haywire yet.
Then again, there's probably nothing wrong with giving the people what they want. I'm just old n' cranky tonight, I guess. Let's see who wrote this Magic Mike... Reid Carolin, a documentarian who made something called Earth Made of Glass. Has anyone seen this? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515197/plotsummary
Popping in here in response to Magic Mike talk. Just came back from seeing a screening. It's a pretty solid film. It's Soderbergh having some fun. It's actually fairly formulaic in its second half where it becomes a bit of a rise-and-fall story (drugs, sex, betrayals) and that's when it lost some of my interest.
But when it's really just focusing on the high times of the life of a male stripper, the movie's a lot of fun. McConaughey is having a ball. I found Tatum very likeable in a performance that felt somewhat similar to the one in 21 Jump Street: a good-hearted lunkhead (though not nearly as lunkheaded as Jenko).
Do most theatrical one-sheet posters still run 27 x 41" without a border? I'd hate to cut off sections of my older one-sheets like Ghostbusters, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Pale Rider or Superman; all old school posters with one inch borders and MPAA codes. Do those Wal-Mart ones come with a clear acetate plastic sheet to make the posters kinda-sorta look like they're under glass? There's a shop in NYC that I'd love to get poster-frames from (MOVIE STAR NEWS on West 18th) but the shipping is unreal for these things. I hear IKEA is a great inexpensive poster-frame resource. Can anyone confirm?
The formulaic feeling of the film's trailer was what concerned me most. But it's good to hear that there may be more going on than there looks to be. Is it a Boogie Nights kind of rise-and-fall deal? (Emotional, realistic-feeling?) Or more along the lines of Showgirls? (Sensationalized and overdone?) You're the first person I've heard from who's seen it, so thanks for the mostly-positive sounding report. Good to hear Soderbergh's still on-point.
As to the discussion regarding Heat and Goodfellas:
Goodfellas>Casino>about a million other crime movies>Heat (not really a fan as you can tell)
Wow. Yeah I say you should go.
And I've heard other people say that they hate Heat. I don't agree but to each their own.
Originally Posted by Engineer
Oh, Soderbergh's Magic Mike. Yeah, I just don't get this as a Soderbergh choice. I know he likes to mix things up and play with audience expectations but... Could this be something more than a cash grab commercialism move to appeal to the beefcake fans who seek a movie to see?
I hope there's a better story there in Magic Mike than is being hinted at by the trailer. And I'm just not in the Tatum camp. I find him as dull as dishwater, though I still haven't seen Haywire yet.
Then again, there's probably nothing wrong with giving the people what they want. I'm just old n' cranky tonight, I guess. Let's see who wrote this Magic Mike... Reid Carolin, a documentarian who made something called Earth Made of Glass. Has anyone seen this? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515197/plotsummary
From what I heard, the project came from when the two were working on Haywire. Stephen overheard Tatum talking about his brief real-life stripper past and he said it should become a film. Also from what I understand, Channing and Reid are pals.
I've come across this review and it compares the film favorably to the former and says that it's not campy or lurid like the latter.
Thanks to Netflix, I watched one of my favorite Noirs - THE HITCH-HIKER directed by Ida Lupino (she dismissively and with self-depracation called herself the poor man's Don Siegel, but what she really was was the first Kathryn Bigelow). The movie is boiling over with pulpy, frenzied psychodrama. Two men on a fishing trip after dark pick up a hitch-hiker, only to find he's a crazy-eyed psychopath with a gun. The next tense 70 minutes are about these two buddies trying to survive. Because this hitch-hiker is crazy and he doesn't give a fuck. (think David Hess in the influenced by HITCH-HIKE) What do you do if you're in their situation? Do you go for the gun? Drive off the road? If what you try doesn't work, you're dead. It's the road trip from Hell, and there's seemingly no escape. As Kim Morgan said "Lupino directs with shadowy menace and intense nervousness (mirroring postwar anxiety) in this tight character study/thriller. Thanks to Lupino at the helm, that back-seat driver of a panic attack Talman pointing that gun and the artistry of cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, this movie is truly scary." Lupino understood people, and especially people in dire straights. Verdict: if you love a good Noir, give this brilliant, underappreciated one a shot. It's a hard-boiled mini-masterpiece.
