TV/Movies Megathread

[mongers]

Watching 'Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience', each  episode the Welsh comedian tries out a new job, this week he's trying to be a paranormal investigator.

Ever other line of the narration is amusing:

"My bum-cheeks clenched so tight, they could have milled wheat." 

"The undead wondering aimlessly through the corridors like a fire drill at BBC Wales" 

"Cue the scariest game since the Broadmoor spin the bottle tournament"

[HVC]

They're remaking Ben hur. Fuck you Hollywood, you're turning me into an angry old man.

[The Brain]

They're remaking Ben hur. Fuck you Hollywood, you're turning me into an angry old man.

Again?

[HVC]

They're remaking Ben hur. Fuck you Hollywood, you're turning me into an angry old man.

Again?

im sure someone was complaining in 1959 too

[Admiral Yi]

Watching Warm Springs on HBO GO.  FDR gets polio.  Kenneth Branagh and that boney chick from Sex in the City.  Enjoying, filling a hole in my historical knowledge.

[jimmy olsen]

They're remaking Ben hur. Fuck you Hollywood, you're turning me into an angry old man.

The novel's really all about evangelical christianity. The title is literally, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and was equal to Uncle Tom's cabin in its influence on 19th century America.

Is a modern remake really going to use all the Christian imagery that was used in 1959?
Strip that out and a modern remake will just be Deathrace with chariots.

[The Minsky Moment]

They're remaking Ben hur. Fuck you Hollywood, you're turning me into an angry old man.

Ben Hur (Heston) was itself a remake of a successful, well regarded movie.

[celedhring]

Despite the Christian mumbo-jumbo, Ben-Hur is essentially a revenge story (always loved how Ben-Hur doesn't go Christian-hippy until *after* Mesalah dies in the race). I guess they will make a token effort to trick/please the bible thumper audience while going nuts with the action.

The trailers look awful anyhow.

[celedhring]

The Band Wagon (1953). My favorite Fred Astaire film, about an aging Broadway star that seeks to rejuvenate his career with a last show, and comes at odds with a pretentious director. Together with Singing in the Rain (that came a year earlier) they signal the epitome of the Hollywood stage musical. The film is famous for the "That's Entertainment" tune which everybody has heard countless times, but for me the gem has always been the "Girl Hunt Ballet" that Michael Jackson homaged in the Smooth Criminal video.

Heck, I think I'm gonna follow it up with Blue Skies. I love Astaire.

[Savonarola]

Legally Blonde 2:  The Quest for More Money Red, White and Blonde (2003)

Bigger, dumber and blonder than the first one.  In the original Reese Witherspoon's character is obviously supposed to be intelligent but misjudged by her peers.  In this one she actually comes across as stupid; but fortunately so does everyone else in Washington DC (except Bob Newhart).  This film might have worked better if they had gone the Lassie route and made the dog the brains of the operation.

[celedhring]

Why are you subjecting yourself to so much crap lately, Sav?

[Savonarola]

I also watched a collection of Our Gang shorts, that had films from the generation at the beginning of sound (led by Jackie Cooper) to the early Spanky-Alfalfa-Buckwheat-Darla generation.  It's still surprising how young Spanky McFarland was when he started (he was 3) and how young he was when he became the ringleader (age 7.)  Hal Roach had struggled to find a leader since Jackie Cooper left the gang and Spanky fit the bill perfectly.  (And, like most of the rascals, by age 14 he was all washed up.)

[Savonarola]

Why are you subjecting yourself to so much crap lately, Sav?

Some of them are things that my wife wanted to see ("Ice Age: Collision Course" and the Legally Blonde movies.)  Also I've run out of silent films on Netflix, so I've been watching early sound films which, well, there's a reason for the jokes in "Singin' in the Rain." 

[celedhring]

I also watched a collection of Our Gang shorts, that had films from the generation at the beginning of sound (led by Jackie Cooper) to the early Spanky-Alfalfa-Buckwheat-Darla generation.  It's still surprising how young Spanky McFarland was when he started (he was 3) and how young he was when he became the ringleader (age 7.)  Hal Roach had struggled to find a leader since Jackie Cooper left the gang and Spanky fit the bill perfectly.  (And, like most of the rascals, by age 14 he was all washed up.)

That sounds more like you.

I've kept with my Astaire binge with Follow the Fleet. Wondering whether to follow up with Swing Time. I don't think the film is that hot, but damn if "Never gonna dance" isn't one of the best dancing duets ever filmed.

[Sheilbh]

Why are you subjecting yourself to so much crap lately, Sav?

The Legally Blonde films are a delight