TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

Now, I can't and won't deny that.  But Pac Rim's fights were either modest or over-ridiculous, and never had emotional weight, because none of the kaiju had a hint of personality.  Far more Power Rangers than the Toho or Daiei classics.  Now, Godzilla, for all its human problems (which Pac Rim also has, though it has different ones) did give highly-appealing monsters (eventually) and monster battles.  I fucking adore the MUTOs.

Godzilla is also nearly a half-hour shorter.

[Habbaku]

I would not have complained if they cut the Ron Perlman bits from PacRim.

[Ideologue]

I thought the one-note ethnic joke his character represented was kind of funny, in a CDM vein.  But I mostly agree.

[Syt]

You never cut Ron Perlman from anything. He elevates any scene he's in.

[Eddie Teach]

Saw Butch and Sundance again. Awesome writing & acting. Didn't care overmuch for the soundtrack/score, but that's a minor quibble. Great movie.

[Ideologue]

Oh, did I say that I got the Disney BD release of two of their 40s package films, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947)?  Well, I did.  I've only watched the first so far (well, I saw them both decades ago, but you know what I mean).

Wind in the Willows is basically alright, essentially a Looney Tune with better animation and less interesting characters.  Of course, when the revolution comes, J. Thaddeus Toad's going to be up against the wall, because whether he was interesting or not, he's a fucking asshole.

Sleepy Hollow by contrast absolutely rocks, and I wish I wish I wish that it were the whole movie, some 70 minutes long, with its nearly-silent characters and storybook-narration by Bing Crosby and swinging tunes by Crosby and the Rhythmaires and everything.  Were this the case, it could have possibly been my favorite Disney movie, less Fantasia, before 1989.  I especially love how Ichabod, while emphatically attracted to his beautiful paramour, wants to marry her most of all because she's rich, she owns a farm, and he doesn't particularly like to work but he does like to eat things.

If there's any flaw at all, and it's not much of one and purely a matter of taste, it's that they lean a little too heavily on the slapstick during the climactic chase between Ichabod and the terrifyingly well-done Headless Horseman, very possibly Disney's greatest villain till Ursula.  The scene had begun legitimately unnerving and blossomed into something not just a little bit actually scary, but they lose the chilling aspects of it a little bit with the relapse into funny cartoon schtick.  In fairness, the funny cartoon schtick of the previous twenty-five minutes is one of the reasons the shift in tone to horror is so wonderfully disorienting.)  But ultimately it's a little too much Army of Darkness, not enough Evil Dead 2.  So it goes.

A, pretty much solely on the strength of Sleepy Hollow.

[celedhring]

Hell, I'm surprised you've seen those.  Though The Glass Web is most excellent--and I hope it does get a Criterion release, if only because that's the likeliest method it'll ever get any release.   Maybe an Eclipse set for Arnold's non-science fiction.

And fwiw, The Mouse That Roared is evidently pretty well-regarded.

Well, when I was younger I was an absolute sucker for 50s sci-fi, and went to pretty great lengths to watch some of the most obscure titles 

I have grown out of it now!

I saw The Mouse That Roared long time ago, and I don't really remember much of it besides Peter Sellers in drag. I probably should watch it again.

[Savonarola]

Oh, did I say that I got the Disney BD release of two of their 40s package films, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947)?  Well, I did.  I've only watched the first so far (well, I saw them both decades ago, but you know what I mean).

Wind in the Willows is basically alright, essentially a Looney Tune with better animation and less interesting characters.  Of course, when the revolution comes, J. Thaddeus Toad's going to be up against the wall, because whether he was interesting or not, he's a fucking asshole.

Sleepy Hollow by contrast absolutely rocks, and I wish I wish I wish that it were the whole movie, some 70 minutes long, with its nearly-silent characters and storybook-narration by Bing Crosby and swinging tunes by Crosby and the Rhythmaires and everything.  Were this the case, it could have possibly been my favorite Disney movie, less Fantasia, before 1989.  I especially love how Ichabod, while emphatically attracted to his beautiful paramour, wants to marry her most of all because she's rich, she owns a farm, and he doesn't particularly like to work but he does like to eat things.

If there's any flaw at all, and it's not much of one and purely a matter of taste, it's that they lean a little too heavily on the slapstick during the climactic chase between Ichabod and the terrifyingly well-done Headless Horseman, very possibly Disney's greatest villain till Ursula.  The scene had begun legitimately unnerving and blossomed into something not just a little bit actually scary, but they lose the chilling aspects of it a little bit with the relapse into funny cartoon schtick.  In fairness, the funny cartoon schtick of the previous twenty-five minutes is one of the reasons the shift in tone to horror is so wonderfully disorienting.)  But ultimately it's a little too much Army of Darkness, not enough Evil Dead 2.  So it goes.

A, pretty much solely on the strength of Sleepy Hollow.

You'd hate the author of "Wind in the Willows" too, Kenneth Grahame was secretary of the Bank of England.   

"Wind in the Willows" deserved a much longer movie.  They really can't capture much of the book in such a short time.  "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," on the other hand, benefits greatly from the shortened format.  There really isn't much of a story, and the longer adaptations I've seen feel padded out.

[Ideologue]

Well, there's 65-70 minutes there, surely.

And, you know, I really like Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow a lot.

[celedhring]

I like Sleepy Hollow, too. Let me see... I'm bored, and when I'm bored I make lists:

1) Ed Wood (masterpiece)
2) Edward Scissorhands (masterpiece)
3) Batman Returns
4) Batman
5) Bettlejuice
6) Sleepy Hollow
7) Big Fish
------------------------ Good film threshold.
8) Mars Attacks
9) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
10) Corpse Bride

I haven't seen Frankenweenie yet. If you consider Nightmare Before Christmas a Tim Burton film, it would shoot to number #2.

[Ideologue]

1) Ed Wood (masterpiece)
2) Edward Scissorhands (masterpiece)
3) Batman Returns
4) Batman
5) Bettlejuice
6) Sleepy Hollow

Identical!

Then there's Big Fish, which I tried to watch like ten years ago, got distracted (and a little bored) and never returned to.  Maybe I should.

On the other hand, you can have my copy of Nightmare Before Christmas if you want it.  It's very rare that something I really enjoyed as a kid I hardly even like as an adult--I mean, I keep watching Gamera movies--but Nightmare is one of them.  STOP ALMOST SINGING.

[Eddie Teach]

Batman up top. Dressing like a bat > dressing like a girl 

[Ideologue]

Except I'm sure my no. 7 would be Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and that's totally a good movie.  Then I guess Sweeney Todd, which I also enjoy.

Plus I think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has just enough to recommend it.  It's not a great movie by any stretch, but I found it entertaining, and I really enjoyed Depp doing his schtick in a Michael Jackson register.

Mars Attacks is definitely boring, and I also recall Corpse Bride being boring, but it's possible I only found it boring because Korea forced me into watching it.  Not yet seen Alice in Wonderland, Frankenweenie, nor Dark Shadows.

Batman up top. Dressing like a bat > dressing like a girl

[garbon]

Dark Shadows just seemed like a confused mess.

[celedhring]

He tried to recapture a Bettlejuice vibe with it, which would've been cool if it had worked, but yeah, it is pretty jumbled and really tries too hard.

I didn't like Charlie much, but like Mars Attacks there's still some isolated moments of inventiveness/brilliance that put it ahead of stuff like Sweeny Tood or Planet of the Apes - which where uniformly unappealing.

I'm intrigued about his upcoming Waltear Keane biopic. If only because it reunites him with the Ed Wood screenwriters.