Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31925 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 10:03 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Mother's Day watchlist:
Mother (1996) - streaming on Tubi
Mother (2009) - streaming on Hulu
mother! (2017) - available to rent
Special shout out to one of my favorite John Waters' flicks, Serial Mom (1994), which is sadly unavailable to stream anywhere:
That movie is fantastic. One of my favorite comedies, and probably one of my two favorite dark comedies, along with Heathers. The scene in court between Kathleen Turner's Beverly Sutphin and Mink Stole's Dottie Hinkle, where Mrs. Hinkle can't stop uttering obscenities, is pure gold.
There are dozens of us, Stu! Dozens who love this great movie.
"Lick Mommy's feet - get 'em alllll wet":
That damn scene has been imprinted on my brain for 25 years.
"Are those...pussywillows?"
"What did you just say?!?"
"Pussywillows, Dottie."
My favorite music is Kathleen Turner saying "pussywillows" over and over again.
I used to co-host a sports podcast where we would sometimes do a silly segment called The Pussification of America, and just cite something that we thought was appropriate. For the segment, we had a wonderfully-crafted intro set to a beat where people were saying the P-word or variations of it, including some of the lines we've just talked about from Serial Mom. Then the outro was simply Goldie Hawn yelling "you (blanks)!" to her players in Wildcats. Fun times.
Mother (1996) - streaming on Tubi
Mother (2009) - streaming on Hulu
mother! (2017) - available to rent
Special shout out to one of my favorite John Waters' flicks, Serial Mom (1994), which is sadly unavailable to stream anywhere:
That movie is fantastic. One of my favorite comedies, and probably one of my two favorite dark comedies, along with Heathers. The scene in court between Kathleen Turner's Beverly Sutphin and Mink Stole's Dottie Hinkle, where Mrs. Hinkle can't stop uttering obscenities, is pure gold.
There are dozens of us, Stu! Dozens who love this great movie.
"Lick Mommy's feet - get 'em alllll wet":
That damn scene has been imprinted on my brain for 25 years.
"Are those...pussywillows?"
"What did you just say?!?"
"Pussywillows, Dottie."
My favorite music is Kathleen Turner saying "pussywillows" over and over again.
I used to co-host a sports podcast where we would sometimes do a silly segment called The Pussification of America, and just cite something that we thought was appropriate. For the segment, we had a wonderfully-crafted intro set to a beat where people were saying the P-word or variations of it, including some of the lines we've just talked about from Serial Mom. Then the outro was simply Goldie Hawn yelling "you (blanks)!" to her players in Wildcats. Fun times.
You are a fascinating cat, Stu. Does this podcast exist in streaming form? _________________ Under New Management
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31925 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 2:46 pm Post subject:
^
I know that the site where all of them were stored no longer exists, and they were in the process of getting moved to another site. They will be back at some point, I was told. We did a weekly podcast for a little more than 2 years, I'd say. PM me if you want, as there is a page I found where a few of them can actually be played. These were done between 2012-2014, by the way, and in just audio form. If we ever bring the show back, maybe we'll go visual as well, who knows.
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless. _________________ Under New Management
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless.
I want to note that Miami Vice and especially Public Enemies are two of the most beautiful films you'll ever see and that Mann's innovations with digital photography demonstrate that the visual language of cinema can still be pushed forward 140 years later even in the service of mediocre narratives.
Public Enemies is currently streaming on Netflix and it's a revelation to watch even if it may not be a good movie. I would love to see this on a big screen: _________________ Under New Management
French acting legend Michel Piccoli passed away earlier today at age 94. The guy had a spectacular career, including the leading man turn in one of my favorite movies, Contempt (1963, but that's just the tip of the iceberg of his long, storied, and varied performances.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 6:19 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Post-Insider Michael Mann ranked:
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless.
I’m an admitted huge fan, but I think he got what he wanted to say across with both movies. People were expecting something else with Miami Vice (he went darker and more personal than people expecting the tv show wanted (Bad Boys is the type of film they were looking for), but his relentless driving story and the edgy chemistry of the actors worked well in a vacuum. And it is beautifully shot as you said. The soundtrack is also brilliant.
Not sure why you found public enemies confused. It’s elegiac and elegant and covers several of the characters (some liberties with the timeline of events notwithstanding) in very personal and approachable ways. Depp’s Dillinger captures the charm and the basic lack of much more there. Bale’s Purdy is nuanced, and the other characters all tell a tale of an era both in its glitz and in its ultimate tawdriness. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless.
I thought Ali and Collateral were sub-par, particularly the latter. I'm a non-hipster fan of Miami Vice too.
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless.
I’m an admitted huge fan, but I think he got what he wanted to say across with both movies. People were expecting something else with Miami Vice (he went darker and more personal than people expecting the tv show wanted (Bad Boys is the type of film they were looking for), but his relentless driving story and the edgy chemistry of the actors worked well in a vacuum. And it is beautifully shot as you said. The soundtrack is also brilliant.
Not sure why you found public enemies confused. It’s elegiac and elegant and covers several of the characters (some liberties with the timeline of events notwithstanding) in very personal and approachable ways. Depp’s Dillinger captures the charm and the basic lack of much more there. Bale’s Purdy is nuanced, and the other characters all tell a tale of an era both in its glitz and in its ultimate tawdriness.
To the former, the aesthetic doesn't work for me in a movie that's pure aesthetics. I don't know what depth there is in Miami Vice beyond Mann trying to deconstruct his own legacy (and the hacks who bastardized it like Michael Bay) and even then, Crockett and Tubbs suck in this (and I don't think that's the fault of Farrell or Fox) and my beloved Gong Li has to speak her lines phonetically over dated Moby beats. It's honestly a real slog for me to get through that I haven't experienced with any Michael Mann movie outside of the second half of The Keep.
I withdraw my "bad...confused" review of Public Enemies after a partial second viewing because it's so suffused with *big ideas* that it sometimes feels like it's out of control, but Mann keeps it on the rails. I think Bale's Purvis is the weak link, but maybe that's the point in a movie that maybe doesn't directly side with the violent bank robbers, but understands the evils of overwhelming violence from a surveillance bureaucracy dominated by 'yes-men' zealots like Purvis. Knowing what's happened to Depp (and what he's done) over the past decade makes Depp as Dillinger seeing himself onscreen before his death/rapid descent especially affecting. _________________ Under New Management
Last edited by Baron Von Humongous on Tue May 19, 2020 6:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ali - good to great
Collateral - good to great
Blackhat - good, fun
Public Enemies* - bad, interesting, confused
Miami Vice - bad, boring, overrated by hipsters
* I'd double bill this with Fincher's Panic Room as movies with directors confident in their visual style who have no real connection to the material so most of their respective stylistic flourishes seem arbitrary and pointless.
I thought Ali and Collateral were sub-par, particularly the latter. I'm a non-hipster fan of Miami Vice too.
You may be a hipster and don't know it, tho
I really like Ali and appreciate more than love Collateral, so I'd be interested to read your thoughts on those movies along with Miami Vice. _________________ Under New Management
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me. _________________ Under New Management
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31925 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 8:58 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
I loved The Last Of The Mohicans. Love the actors, the cinematography (some really beautiful scenery), and, of course, the music.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 9:01 pm Post subject:
ChickenStu wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
I loved The Last Of The Mohicans. Love the actors, the cinematography (some really beautiful scenery), and, of course, the music.
The SNL parody was also good. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 9:05 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
Manhunter was where I fell in love, and Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice are right in my wheelhouse. When he gets atmospheric and moody with terse, expert, emotionally disconnected or conflicted characters, he’s on his game. Loved Blackhat despite questioning the casting. No one screens a scene of violence like Mann does. The shootout in Heat is a master class. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 9:10 pm Post subject:
Mann shares a trait with David Simon in that both often blur the difference between the protagonist and antagonist, to the point that you can argue which is which. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31925 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 11:33 pm Post subject:
Omar Little wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
I loved The Last Of The Mohicans. Love the actors, the cinematography (some really beautiful scenery), and, of course, the music.
The SNL parody was also good.
I am not aware of such a moment in time. Tried to find it on YouTube but came up empty. If you can point me in the right direction, would be much appreciated, thanks.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 12:03 am Post subject:
Could have sworn it was SNL. It was just them running everywhere constantly. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
The big news of the day isn't all the impending fascism and global pandemic stuff; no, the big news is that Warner Bros and HBOMax will finally #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. That means giving Zach Snyder $20M to recut and add a bunch of VFX work to deleted scenes from his version of Justice League before Joss Whedon took over in 2017 and then releasing all 4+ hours of it onto HBOMax in 2021. Feel the excitement!
There are some strong opinions on the matrer after diehard Snyder-heads and DC-philes demanded for over a year that Warner Bros release the fabled "Snyder Cut" of the movie which was wrongfully kept hidden from the public eye or some such. Now they have succeeded in creating a great marketing ploy for the folks at Time Warner to push subscriptions to their new streaming service. Good work everyone!
But I do not have strong opinions about it because I have never seen nor will ever see Justice League in any form. I hope any Film Thread fans of the movie and/or Zach Snyder's work have something to look forward to (assuming human civilization exists in 2021). _________________ Under New Management
I concur with A.O. Scott of the New York Times. The Half of It is the best film I've seen so far released in 2020. Hopefully, Alice Wu does not take another 15 years to make another movie, and, instead, pulls a Malick to come back to the industry more full time.
I concur with A.O. Scott of the New York Times. The Half of It is the best film I've seen so far released in 2020. Hopefully, Alice Wu does not take another 15 years to make another movie, and, instead, pulls a Malick to come back to the industry more full time.
That and Driveways both look excellent. It's hard keeping up with new movies without a theater to go to. _________________ Under New Management
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
Manhunter was where I fell in love, and Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice are right in my wheelhouse. When he gets atmospheric and moody with terse, expert, emotionally disconnected or conflicted characters, he’s on his game. Loved Blackhat despite questioning the casting. No one screens a scene of violence like Mann does. The shootout in Heat is a master class.
Fan of Thief? I think The Insider hits the notes you mention above fascinatingly without firing a single shot (though there's an ominous bullet in a mailbox). _________________ Under New Management
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
Manhunter was where I fell in love, and Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice are right in my wheelhouse. When he gets atmospheric and moody with terse, expert, emotionally disconnected or conflicted characters, he’s on his game. Loved Blackhat despite questioning the casting. No one screens a scene of violence like Mann does. The shootout in Heat is a master class.
Fan of Thief? I think The Insider hits the notes you mention above fascinatingly without firing a single shot (though there's an ominous bullet in a mailbox).
I really enjoyed Thief, and I think it should be discussed more when looking at great character study pieces. James Caan gives a really intense performance. The Tangerine Dream score is also great.
I know the question wasn't for me lol but I wanted to squeeze into this Mann discussion because I'm a big fan. Still gotta get around watching Miami Vice.
Last edited by panamaniac on Sun May 24, 2020 9:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
3:10 to Yuma and Gilda: Glenn Ford is maybe the most inexplicable Hollywood leading man I've ever come across. Just a mumbly, average looking sad sack who overemotes when he's asked to act beyond his normal flat register. Out of eight movies I've seen him in so far I only really like his performance in Lang's Big Heat because I think Lang understood Ford's wannabe nice guy galoot as a veneer for his inner misanthropy and played it up in the character accordingly.
Anyway, Gilda is a solid, if overstuffed noir flick with Rita Hayworth at her mean girl hottest ("Johnny, Oh, Johnny") and Delmer Daves makes the original 3:10 to Yuma work as well or better than the good sequel with Russell Crowe. _________________ Under New Management
Last edited by Baron Von Humongous on Sun May 24, 2020 10:09 pm; edited 3 times in total
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 9:51 pm Post subject:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Omar Little wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
Also awesome to see van and Omar are Mann-heads. Seeing Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and The Insider growing up in the '90s was a formative trip for me.
Manhunter was where I fell in love, and Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice are right in my wheelhouse. When he gets atmospheric and moody with terse, expert, emotionally disconnected or conflicted characters, he’s on his game. Loved Blackhat despite questioning the casting. No one screens a scene of violence like Mann does. The shootout in Heat is a master class.
Fan of Thief? I think The Insider hits the notes you mention above fascinatingly without firing a single shot (though there's an ominous bullet in a mailbox).
Yeah. It’s a great film, all the more amazing for the first one out of the box. He hadn’t put all his pieces together yet but he had the blueprint, and the stripped down version is somehow perfect in its own way. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
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