TV/Movies Megathread

[Josephus]

Quiet Place.

I expected much more from this. Preview's excited me.Reviews were really good. But I felt it lacked something. And not just conversation. 3 Deaf Ears out of 5.

[Razgovory]

This Island Earth (1955)

Probably best known as the fodder for the MST3K movie; this actually isn't a bad film.  The special effects were dated by 1996 (and some in 1955 as well; the creators were allegedly so embarrassed by the mutant that they left the theater when it first showed up on screen) but the story is interesting.  A mysterious man named Exeter gathers all the worlds top nuclear energy scientist into a laboratory, but for what purpose? (dunh, dunh, dunh.)

Most groan inducing goof is Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) who says they call the lab cat "Neutron" because he's so positive.

Yeah, the MST3K movie suffers from the fact that This Island Earth isn't a bad enough film, compared to some of the other stuff they spoofed.

I disagree.  Many of the films they riffed on were actually painful to watch.  The black and white cinematography gave me a headache in some of those.  I remember one of them sounded like a helicopter was landing next door, half the movie was drowned out by some sort of mechanical buzzing.  I'm not sure that many people could sit in a theater through that, not that many people came to the theater for the MST3K movie.

[11B4V]

Glenn Close Upsets Lady Gaga, Taking Best Actress at the Golden Globes

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/movies/glenn-close-the-wife.html

[Eddie Teach]

You might save the schadenfreude for after the Oscars.

[11B4V]

You might save the schadenfreude for after the Oscars.

We'll see

[Syt]

RIP William Morgan Sheppard. 86 years.

[Savonarola]

Destination Moon (1950)

A secretive cabal meets in Washington DC.  Their goal: a journey to the moon.  Their members: leaders of industry and science.  Their pitch-man:  Woody Woodpecker.



This was made at a time when just going to the moon was fantastic.  The story isn't much more than building a rocket, going to the moon, and taking some pictures; at the time of the film that was a greater adventure than anyone had been on.  There's a surprising amount of science (hard science, not Treknobabble) for a big budget science fiction film.  There are some things they got wrong but for the most part it's pretty accurate.

I think the Brain will appreciate this: the film was made at the dawn of the atomic age.  Our astronauts go to the moon using the most futuristic fuel the writers could come up with: a steam powered atomic rocket.

[Admiral Yi]

Why would a secretive cabal use a pitch man? 

[Savonarola]

Why would a secretive cabal use a pitch man? 

Woody was pitching the idea of spaceflight to the cabal, not the general public.

Edit:  The Woody Woodpecker scenes in the film were so dead-on that NASA would use them to explain the moon shot to the general public over a decade later.

[Eddie Teach]

Was the whole thing animated or just Woody?

[Savonarola]

Was the whole thing animated or just Woody?

Just a Woody Woodpecker segment near the beginning of the film.

[Razgovory]

Destination Moon (1950)

A secretive cabal meets in Washington DC.  Their goal: a journey to the moon.  Their members: leaders of industry and science.  Their pitch-man:  Woody Woodpecker.



This was made at a time when just going to the moon was fantastic.  The story isn't much more than building a rocket, going to the moon, and taking some pictures; at the time of the film that was a greater adventure than anyone had been on.  There's a surprising amount of science (hard science, not Treknobabble) for a big budget science fiction film.  There are some things they got wrong but for the most part it's pretty accurate.

I think the Brain will appreciate this: the film was made at the dawn of the atomic age.  Our astronauts go to the moon using the most futuristic fuel the writers could come up with: a steam powered atomic rocket.

Oh, this is a great movie!  The idea of using a cartoon to explain the science was used decades later for Jurassic party.  I think the movie was based on Rocket Ship Galileo by Heinlein.

[Admiral Yi]

Jurassic party

[Savonarola]

Jurassic party.

I've found who I'm voting for in 2020.



Heinlein was one of the script writers.  IMDB says that in addition to "Rocket Ship Galileo" it's also similar to "The Man Who Sold the Moon" also by Heinlein.

[The Brain]

Destination Moon (1950)

A secretive cabal meets in Washington DC.  Their goal: a journey to the moon.  Their members: leaders of industry and science.  Their pitch-man:  Woody Woodpecker.



This was made at a time when just going to the moon was fantastic.  The story isn't much more than building a rocket, going to the moon, and taking some pictures; at the time of the film that was a greater adventure than anyone had been on.  There's a surprising amount of science (hard science, not Treknobabble) for a big budget science fiction film.  There are some things they got wrong but for the most part it's pretty accurate.

I think the Brain will appreciate this: the film was made at the dawn of the atomic age.  Our astronauts go to the moon using the most futuristic fuel the writers could come up with: a steam powered atomic rocket.

Atomic rockets rule.

In 1950 they were closer to the moon than we are now. Sad!