TV/Movies Megathread

[celedhring]

To be frank they didn't beg. They were asked to put up some kind of act to get the money. You know, like street musicians or whatever. Around the Ramblas we have loads of that. Supervisors would walk around the area to make sure they were there doing whatever.

That was almost 20 years ago anyway, not sure they still do it.

[The Brain]

That sounds dumb - probably after a while most locals do not give any money to beggars,

If only.

[celedhring]

That place is chock full of tourists. It's just another source of foreign financing.

[Admiral Yi]

John Wick.  Monumentally cool, phenomenally badass.

But it's not really a movie.  It's an extended music video.

[celedhring]

John Wick.  Monumentally cool, phenomenally badass.

But it's not really a movie.  It's an extended music video.

Doesn't even have a Spanish release date yet 

[Ideologue]

I liked John Wick, but Raid 2 was better.

[lustindarkness]

John Wick is fucking awesome.

[Ideologue]

The Red Shoes (1948).  Not all it's cracked up to be, with a story that takes a while to build up much steam and when it does, it's seemingly based in the behavior of 1940s humans as processed by Martian anthropologists.  A self-consciously artistic couple is torn apart by the wife's desire to continue to dance in the ballet, and our heroine is driven to an unlikely psychological extremity by her husband's bullying--not to mention the faux-Faustian bargain offered by her satanic impresario.  However, it's enormously well-made, by Powell and Pressburger, said to be amongst Britain's finest directors.  The 15-minute production of The Red Shoes ballet is rendered as a fantasy (that mirrors the themes of the film and does almost all of the heavy lifting on their behalf).  It is tremendously cinematic, and endlessly gorgeous.  The score The Red Shoes gets is anchored totally to this sequence; even so, the entire film is one of the better arguments for Technicolor.  (However, it should be said that any notable Douglas Sirk picture in color argues the case much better, as does the best film of 1948, Rope.)  It's not as good as Black Swan.  Still, I suppose I can understand why someone might insist it is.

7/10 (I do out of ten now, which ought to quiet the previous grading scale's detractors)

Deep Impact (1998).  In Armageddon's inferior twin, Tea Leoni cries like a baby about her parents' divorce, even though she's a thirty year old woman; Elijah Wood does some very questionable things, contriving a "heartfelt" reunion at the screenwriter's behest; Robert Duvall goes to space, something I was made to care about, slightly; President Morgan Freeman declares martial law in the movies ten years before Barack Obama could in real life; and, after the fine time I had with Jurassic Park III, I am given the reminder I needed that turn-of-the-century CGI was terrible.

4/10

[celedhring]

When I went to see Deep Impact, people in the theater clapped when[spoiler] Tea Leoni kicks the bucket[/spoiler]. That's how annoying she is in that movie.

[Ideologue]

That's a mean thing to do for someone with a disability.  You can clearly see that it requires a conscious act of will for her to fully close her jaw.

I guess I could've said that "After having a fine time with Jurassic Park III, I get the reminder I needed that Tea Leoni is not a very good actor."

[jimmy olsen]

Ide, how can you have so many "Cardboard Science" entries on your blog and yet never have reviewed Them!? It's unconscionable!

[Josquius]

When I studied film in Barcelona they told me that the acting students were forced to live homeless for a day, and they couldn't graduate unless they were convincing enough beggars so people gave them a set amount of money.

I'm totally not making this up.

"Hey Jose, I gotta go out on the street to beg for money this Tuesday. Here is 4000 pesetas in loose change, please come by at 11 and drop it off, that way I can be done for lunch and we can hit the bars at 4. First drink on me."

No?

[Malthus]

Anyone seen the UK period crime sieries Peaky Blinders? I marathon-watched in this weekend, and it was great. 

[Eddie Teach]

Agreed.

[Savonarola]

Suicide Kings (1997)

The single most 90s movie made in the 90s.  This has it all: dumb criminals, lots of dialogue, suits, pop culture, a convoluted plot, flashbacks, a plan that fails, and Christopher Walken.  There are some great moments especially those with Dennis Leary as a sociopathic goon.  The problem with the film is that the plot is too convoluted, and there are too many minor characters.  When the shocking secrets are revealed it's hard to care.  This certainly isn't the worst movie Quentin Tarantino inspired (that would be "Boondock Saints"); but it's not a great film.  It is an entertaining film trip down memory lane.