TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

Oh, and The 39 Steps (1935).  B  What if Foreign Correspondent were 30 minutes shorter and generally more interesting, but didn't have badass production design that went into the windmill, or the plane crash?  Well, there's the answer, like it or lump it, I guess.

[celedhring]

The escape-through-the-glass scene in The 39 Steps is one of the earliest movie images I can recall. I have included a scene of somebody going through a glass window in every feature script I have written, as a homage.

[Admiral Yi]

Cancer sucks.

Well, he shouldn't have fucked over his only friend. 

[Ideologue]

I did like that part!  It's like out of another movie.  For those who don't know the scene to which we refer, this fay mustachioed wrong man archetype suddenly hulks out, and leaps through a fucking plate glass window.  It's awesome.

[Tonitrus]

Galaxy Quest (1999).  A

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1960).  B+

[garbon]

Galaxy Quest (1999).  A

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1960).  B+

Galaxy Quest is great.

[Tonitrus]

Galaxy Quest (1999).  A

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1960).  B+

Galaxy Quest is great.

I like Galaxy Quest too, but not better than TMWSLV.

I sense a generation bias. 

[Ideologue]

The man who shot Liberty Valance [spoiler]didn't even shoot Liberty Valance![/spoiler]  What kind of crap is that?

Seriously, Stewart shrieking at people about morality is pretty great, as usual, and I like the part where punches John Wayne in the face a lot, and in terms of B+W photography it's pretty much beyond reproach.  However it circles the same character beat for Stoddard maybe one too many times, and the epilogue--after Valance is already dead--is so excruciatingly long you get to hear not just one but two full-length political speeches, each involving the accession to the Union of a state that is never actually named.  How did anyone think that was necessary?

Indeed, of the two Westerns I watched today, High Noon was the better one, and I thought about giving it an A, and would've, too, if [spoiler]Kelly's part in the shootout was handled even slightly differently so she didn't wind up a damsel two seconds after she gunned a man down.[/spoiler]  Anyway, I also liked Stagecoach better.

Edit: I dunno if I need to put spoiler tags on High Noon or Liberty Valance, but just in case.

[CountDeMoney]

I sense a generation bias. 

This is Ide.  Dog Day Afternoon put his Millennial "I-need-Michael-Bay-explosions-or-my-mind-wanders" attention span to sleep, remember.   

[Eddie Teach]

I like Galaxy Quest too, but not better than TMWSLV.

I sense a generation bias. 

Galaxy Quest is a contender for best scifi comedy ever. Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is not a contender for best western ever. Or even best John Wayne western ever. I suppose it's probably the best Jimmy Stewart western though, so there is that.

[Ideologue]

I own The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  DO YOU?  That movie's like half a day long.

P.S. you know what Valance and High Noon needed?  More Van Cleef.  They had some, but not enough.

[celedhring]

and the epilogue--after Valance is already dead--is so excruciatingly long you get to hear not just one but two full-length political speeches, each involving the accession to the Union of a state that is never actually named.  How did anyone think that was necessary?

The whole movie is a discourse about the end of the world of the frontier and the legends that come with it. The accession to statehood heralds the arrival of civilization, that's why it ends the film.

It's a beautiful film, one of my favorite westerns.

[Ideologue]

I own The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  DO YOU?  That movie's like half a day long.

P.S. you know what Valance and High Noon needed?  More Van Cleef.  They had some, but not enough.

Though in fairness, my favorite Western I've ever seen (and it's true that I haven't seen a ton) is still No Name on the Bullet, which is a magisterial 77 minutes long.

The whole movie is a discourse about the end of the world of the frontier and the legends that come with it. The accession to statehood heralds the arrival of civilization, that's why it ends the film.

No, I get it.

Like you said, the whole movie is about that, so I didn't necessarily need ten minutes spent being educated about the candidates for a fake election that already has a foregone conclusion.

[Tonitrus]

I like Galaxy Quest too, but not better than TMWSLV.

I sense a generation bias. 

Galaxy Quest is a contender for best scifi comedy ever. Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is not a contender for best western ever. Or even best John Wayne western ever. I suppose it's probably the best Jimmy Stewart western though, so there is that.

The Far Country is Stewart's best western. 

[Ideologue]

Well, it's on my list now.