I find them amusing but frequently sexist and contribute to the general defamation of the author's reputation.
Carpenter's The Thing and Alien are closer in tone to his work.
Bingowings said:
It is written :
Raiders is a proper cinema classic, TOD is a scruffy. flawed, racist, roller-coaster ride after too much junk food, TLC is a by the numbers, boring dumbed-down remake of Raiders. Both TOD and TLC are as guilty as KOTCS of being not worthy to stand near Raiders.
See, I still don't get the TOD hate. I saw it and was as blown away as I was by ROTLA. It's a different movie, a darker piece even more mired in 1930's storytelling complete with ridiculous caricatures and I absolutely think it is a masterpiece of adventure filmmaking. TLC was made by older people who weren't doing it for the same reasons. Connery makes the film by infusing Henry Sr. with something akin to the life-like qualities Alec Guinness instilled in our beloved crazy hermit.
FanFiltration said:
"Murder by Death" (1976)
What a racist film this is. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it. Great ensemble cast.
The only people still alive from the film's cast are Maggie Smith, James Cromwell, and Richard Narita
"Clue" (1985)
Another great ensemble cast, yet I did not find it as funny as I did when I first saw it in the theater when it was released.
Immortal double feature. The former is dated, and not the best of films-but on the other hand it is surprisingly funny and somewhat endearing because of its refusal to give up. The latter never gets old for me and is easily one of the best ensemble pieces in the last 50 years. My favorite Tim Curry performance bar none. It is especially great in 35mm with an audience.
EyeShotFirst said:
Marnie (1964)
The film that divides all Hitchcock fans. Some say it's the worst thing Hitchcock ever made, others say it's one of his crowning achievements.
I'm a huge fan of Hitchcock's 50's and early 60's films. I'll honestly say I loved Marnie, and I feel it fits in perfectly with Hitchcock's other films of the era. What more do people want? I don't think it's his greatest film, I don't have the guts to decide what his best film was, but I think it definitely deserves more praise as one of his greatest films.
Really enjoyed Sean Connery in the film, as usual he stole the show with a smirk.
No rating, I'll just say you're a fool to call yourself a Hitchcock fan without at least watching it. I thought it was classic Hitchcock.
This is where it starts to get difficult, because this begins the period of Hitch's career where every film was either hampered by outside factors or forced upon him by the studio. Marnie was supposed to star Grace Kelly and be far more audacious and psychosexual than it is. The result Hitch was forced to release is a failed experiment that is fascinating when it works and still watchable when it isn't. I prefer it to The Birds of course, and for once Tippi Hedren's awful remoteness works--but this is entirely Sean's picture. He commands the screen and creates exactly the sort of powerful yet fascinated enraptured dominating male figure Hitch wanted.
Also hard to deal with is that at this time the seams began to show on what made a Hitchcock picture work. The 60's films look horribly dated with odd color, visible effects and odd staging throughout.
The film is very delicate, especially in it's production values with the color being explicitly laid out to match the story. Marnie also marks an end point in Hitch's career as it was the last time he was able to work with some his longtime production team. All in all a flawed picture that had so much potential had they let Hitch actually be free, something that deprived the world of so much in his final days at Universal/MCA.
4 stars out of 4. A better picture than what followed, though Torn Curtain certainly has its moments, and Topaz really works quite well overall as a realistic espionage piece.
Marnie is also poorly represented on BD.
For a true Hitchcock fan badge you have to sit through Under Capricorn five times. ;)
Bingowings said:
Them that say it's the worst thing he made clearly haven't seen Frenzy (1972) (not just behind the times and repellent but also rather badly made).
Me rather like Marnie (or Catpeople Sans Cat as I prefer to call it).
The film hinges on presenting contradictions.
We have two rapes one that doesn't happen and one that does.
Blackmailing women into marrying you and raping them isn't good (much the same can be said of Deckhard in Blade Runner) but the film doesn't make out that it is.
Frenzy is a masterpiece, the last great film Hitch ever made, wonderfully dark and ironic, almost like black comedy in places, and to be honest almost a farewell to many elements of Hitch's favored story elements. It is also a hearkening back to what is one of the great lost films, Frenzy Kaleidoscope, Hitch's proposed followup to his groundbreaking work on Psycho. It was to be a 16mm almost New Wave styled film about a young man who has relationships with women before he kills them graphically, set up in three dramatic acts, have mother issues and focus on the police's attempts to capture the killer and balance the freedoms of 70's filmmaking with Hitch's innate grasp of visualizing drama.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
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Let's see...
TOD has some of the worst special effects ever inflicted on a cinema audience (not to mention really awful editing glitches).
A crime considering who made it and what the made their reputation making.
Also it is directed by a Jewish gentleman who has gone to great pains to show the Nazis as the monsters they were and yet made a film where the silly brown people are rescued from their pagan Gods by an American with the aid of the British Army.
That alone out Binks, Jar-Jar as the biggest step back in Hollywood racial politics since...pffff
I did see 17 times at the pictures though but that hormones for you.
I liked Marnie- last Hitchcock picture to have a Herrmann score, and everything after it suffers from his departure.
I liked Frenzy, but was repelled by the rape scene.
I think Temple of Doom was a masterpiece. I've seen it in the theater and you really have to see it live to understand that every moment in that movie is crafted to get a reaction. It's a great group movie. Score is astounding. I even like Willie Scott. It's a shame that this kind of movie will never be made again- it's strong anti-PC undertones were hilarious. Definitely the most un-PC action movie ever made.
Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition
Bingowings said:
Let's see...
TOD has some of the worst special effects ever inflicted on a cinema audience (not to mention really awful editing glitches).
A crime considering who made it and what the made their reputation making.
Also it is directed by a Jewish gentleman who has gone to great pains to show the Nazis as the monsters they were and yet made a film where the silly brown people are rescued from their pagan Gods by an American with the aid of the British Army.
That alone out Binks, Jar-Jar as the biggest step back in Hollywood racial politics since...pffff
I did see 17 times at the pictures though but that hormones for you.
Can you cite the specific scenes where you think ILM dropped the ball? I think the mine chase sequence holds up to this day. And I saw a lovely 35mm print just a few years ago.
Comparing 1980's Spielberg to 1990's Spielberg is like comparing 1977 Lucas to 1999 Lucas. Not really the same fellow. IIRC, Steven has said in an interview it would be pretty hard for him to do Nazis as mustache twirling villains the way he did in the Indy films today. He even said once he probably wouldn't have Roy Neary board the mothership in Close Encounters had he made the film today.
If an accomplished actor like the late Amrish Puri had no problems playing Mola Ram, I see no reason to think Spielberg was trying to stereotype the people of India.
Unless you suspect he was venting his frustrations over E.T. getting beaten at the Oscars by Ghandi. ;)
What I've learned of their reaction to the new Miss America tells me India has racial issues of it's own.
Where were you in '77?
Maybe I just like 30's simple mindedness too much. I never really had issues over ToD in the PC department, especially since there are many other films along the same lines (Gunga Din actually forms the basis of a substantial part of ToD)
ESB
This was my first time watching the SWE version. (Mitsubishi pressing to be exact) Comparing to the JSC/SWE issues of of the first film, there's still that wonderful sense of color amidst the source that was gone by 1993. The sound mix is superb and shows how far both the creative team and the format had come in only three years. It's also odd to hear the older mix elements after being used to hearing the 1993 and SE mixes all these years. I don't know why an 1985 mix would have been done as there are still track defects in this. My assumption would be that for the JSC a mix was done to put each film into modern Dolby Surround for home usage on LD.
Video was good to great, with Side 2 having some slight rot creeping in and out. Color is very nice with almost a warm balance overall, most noticeable in warmer skin tones and a general orange-yellow cast. When Han is put into carbon freeze, the entire chamber is lit yellow instead of yellow-orange to red-orange.
Audio is wonderful, in the Dolby surround mix that is either theatrical or a very slight remix. The only thing is that dialogue alternates from being a bit strident to slightly muffled.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
So many awful effects to chose from with TOD.
The the exploding plane/mountain composite.
The matte painings of Pankot Palace.
Some of the mine sequence is brilliant but some shots would look nasty compared to Willis O'Brien's work (a genius in his time but this was a mid eighties film).
Then there is compositing of the shot where the water bursts through the model mine shaft with the badly matted in actors.
Then the unforgivable rope bridge models and mattes which breaks what should be a moment of tension.
The sad thing is the Lao Che sequence which gets a lot of flack is a wonderful pastiche of the era and has believable stunts.
I get the Gunga Din and Kim references but Kipling is a Victwardian you can make allowances seeing as for the day he was actually rather progressive in his attitudes.
But as I said it was a mid-eighties movie and had some of the cast of Gandhi (1982).
The banquet scene is astonishingly backwards especially from a country that gave the world McDougal's.
When I'm talking Spielberg Nazis I'm talking Raiders and TLC not Schindler's List.
Only Steven could make a holocaust movie with an upbeat ending.
The Godfather. I didn't hate it, but I can't help but feel disappointed. Waiting to watch it for 5+ years sets your expectations too high I guess? Couldn't really keep up with who was who very well. Looking forward to trying it again in a couple of months. Just don't know what to say, because I really wanted to enjoy it. Is this how people felt when coming out of TPM in '99, minus the whole part where the movie they watched was really good?
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I'm taking the photo.
"Pink Flamingos"
They don't make films like this anymore. I'm just not sure if that is a bad thing or not.
“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison
Bingowings said:
I'm taking the photo.
I thought you were president of the Didn't Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Society?
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Bingowings said:
So many awful effects to chose from with TOD.
The the exploding plane/mountain composite.
The matte painings of Pankot Palace.
Some of the mine sequence is brilliant but some shots would look nasty compared to Willis O'Brien's work (a genius in his time but this was a mid eighties film).
Then there is compositing of the shot where the water bursts through the model mine shaft with the badly matted in actors.
Then the unforgivable rope bridge models and mattes which breaks what should be a moment of tension.
The sad thing is the Lao Che sequence which gets a lot of flack is a wonderful pastiche of the era and has believable stunts.
I get the Gunga Din and Kim references but Kipling is a Victwardian you can make allowances seeing as for the day he was actually rather progressive in his attitudes.
But as I said it was a mid-eighties movie and had some of the cast of Gandhi (1982).
The banquet scene is astonishingly backwards especially from a country that gave the world McDougal's.
When I'm talking Spielberg Nazis I'm talking Raiders and TLC not Schindler's List.
Only Steven could make a holocaust movie with an upbeat ending.
ILM had a pretty full plate that year, so maybe they were stretched too thin? I think most video transfers make some shots stick out more than they did in theaters. I will give those shots more scrutiny if it plays the revival house here again.
Nazis in the Indy films are pretty much in the vintage Hollywood mold though. Especially the old movie serials that inspired the film. I'm still amazed Kenner got away with making action figures of Toht.
Everything served in the banquet scene is actually a real delicacy, so you can't accuse the screenwriters of making that stuff up. ;)
Where were you in '77?
Moth3r said:
Bingowings said:
I'm taking the photo.
I thought you were president of the Didn't Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Society?
I like some of it but strongly dislike other bits (a bit like Return Of The Jedi).
I was President for a while but I can't seem to remember everything about it.
Something to do with James Bond and some cactus people.
You can get away with taking the mickey out of Nazis, it's a bit more difficult taking the mickey out of their victims.
Arguably the Indian people under the Raj were as much the victims of European Imperialism as the Jews in Germany or the Palestinians in Israel (oops another thread does a bit of Politics... yes indeed).
Silverwook said : Everything served in the banquet scene is actually a real delicacy, so you can't accuse the screenwriters of making that stuff up. ;)
Show your sauces :-D
The most ancient and sophisticated culinary tradition on your planet and Lucas has to have a go at the brown skinned foreigners and their funny food.
captainsolo said:
See, I still don't get the TOD hate. I saw it and was as blown away as I was by ROTLA. It's a different movie, a darker piece even more mired in [Clue (1985)] never gets old for me and is easily one of the best ensemble pieces in the last 50 years. My favorite Tim Curry performance bar none.
Clue is the definitive Tim Curry for me. I think the majority would say Rocky Picture Show... but they're wrong. :)
I'm going home to sleep with my wife.
IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!
"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005
"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM
"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.
Temple of Doom- not the worst Indy film since 2008.
IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!
"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005
"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM
"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.
It's not even the worst 1980's Indiana Jones film (TLC is pretty awful throughout) and it's the best Lucas film prequel (the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is the only thing outside Raiders worthy of the name but I still haven't played the games properly).
Bingowings said:
Moth3r said:
Bingowings said:
I'm taking the photo.
I thought you were president of the Didn't Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Society?
I like some of it but strongly dislike other bits (a bit like Return Of The Jedi).
I was President for a while but I can't seem to remember everything about it.
Something to do with James Bond and some cactus people.
You can get away with taking the mickey out of Nazis, it's a bit more difficult taking the mickey out of their victims.
Arguably the Indian people under the Raj were as much the victims of European Imperialism as the Jews in Germany or the Palestinians in Israel (oops another thread does a bit of Politics... yes indeed).
Silverwook said : Everything served in the banquet scene is actually a real delicacy, so you can't accuse the screenwriters of making that stuff up. ;)
Show your sauces :-D
The most ancient and sophisticated culinary tradition on your planet and Lucas has to have a go at the brown skinned foreigners and their funny food.
It was one of those culinary shows on cable. They're not all actual Indian cuisine, but chilled monkey brains was shockingly real. I knew about some cultures eating insects long before TOD though.
Where were you in '77?
Live eels, monkey brains, eye soup and beetles are not typical Indian food.
Monkey Brains are eaten in China but it's far from the national dish.
It's a meant to wake up Mr Happy.
The villagers food (presumably some kind of Dhal) is also mocked when probably tasted lovely, certainly more tasty than that fly Belloq ate in Raiders.
Perhaps some Bollywood remake/parody will force it's hero to eat American fast food. ;)
And I think I've found the plot for the next Indy movie if it ever gets made...
Where were you in '77?
HotRod said:
CP3S said:
Johnny Ringo said:
Finally saw The World's End.
Overall I enjoyed it but the tone kind of shifts around a bit. It's not their best film but it was pretty funny.
3 balls.
I saw it the other day too.
I really enjoyed it, thought it was way better than the abysmal Paul, but a far cry from Hot Fuzz or Shawn of the Dead.
The worlds end was filmed in the town where I live...Yep!!!
Still haven't seen it, although I kinda live it everyday...Yep!!
One Bloke. Twelve Pubs!
Do you really have pubs with names like the Famous Cock?
Saw it again, liked it even more the second time. There's a good deal of foreshadowing that I clearly missed the first time. I'm sure there's still more stuff that I've missed..
...nah!
Johnny Ringo said:
HotRod said:
CP3S said:
Johnny Ringo said:
Finally saw The World's End.
Overall I enjoyed it but the tone kind of shifts around a bit. It's not their best film but it was pretty funny.
3 balls.
I saw it the other day too.
I really enjoyed it, thought it was way better than the abysmal Paul, but a far cry from Hot Fuzz or Shawn of the Dead.
The worlds end was filmed in the town where I live...Yep!!!
Still haven't seen it, although I kinda live it everyday...Yep!!
One Bloke. Twelve Pubs!
Do you really have pubs with names like the Famous Cock?
Well no, they did change the names of the pubs for the film, but it was still a buzz having the film crew around our town for the month or so.....
When I can be arsed, I'll take a pic outside the 7 or so pubs they used in Letchworth...even the train station became a pub for a few days...'hole in the wall'...
Still haven't seen it yet...Although our cinema seems to have it on constant play...That became 'The mermaid' or something....
Those pub names are hilarious, as is that street sign. ;)
Where were you in '77?
Famous London Pub that's been raising smiles for 30 years longer than the US has been an independant country!
That Neil Gaiman story where the Sandman meets his only friend in the same pub across 6 or 7 centuries is amazing. Wonder what the oldest (Continuous) pub in Britain is? Must be close on to a millenium I'd guess.
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