Watch, Watched, Watching: The cancellations continue

[Mark Antony]

Rewatched Casino. Just never gets old to me

[TheLastWolf]

Early Christmas watch list. 

Home Alone tops the list 

[polishgenius]

Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers is the best Christmas movie.

Die Hard second of course.

[BigFatCoward]

Gremlins or die hard. 

[Zorral]

This is the second time watching Citizen Kane (1941) -- the first time around was on dvd, back in maybe 2010 or thereabouts?

What didn’t strike me upon the first viewing was the operatic cold open staging, in sharp, black silhouette points and angles against a  grey backdrop: Xandau –  Hearst Castle -- presented as the most gothic of gothic crumbling Transylvanian Dracula castles, a 12th Century Prince Igor of the Caucasus, or 16th Century Ivan the Terrible’s Carpathian Mountains' hearts of darkness, such as never seen before or since on screen.

Then we move to other mountains, some centuries later, which strongly struck me on first viewing and has stayed with me ever since, when recalling the film. The childm Charles Foster Kane- William Randolph Hearst, is playing in the falling snow of the Rocky Mountains, among Colorado's mountains of gold, back in 1871. His mother discusses with the lawyers the terms of her new wealth and the transfer, then, of her son to be raised in the east, in the manner of those who generationally inherit wealth. Mother’s skirts are a practical length, her hair a practical country woman's style.

Child Kane is playing Civil War, and he’s playing for the Union, throwing the snowballs in its name, rallying its troops in its name.  This is in multiple upon multiple contrast with most films made at the time, and up through even the 1970's, where it’s always the confederacy represented by the protagonist - white hat (see for example: The Virginian), particularly in the “westerns.” 

And from there, a time without the film industry -- though certainly with newspapers, o so many newspapers! -- we end up in 1941, with both films and newspapers fighting hard for FDR and entry into WWII.

As with any biography-centered work, whether fiction or history, the first half is the interesting part.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

5 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Rewatched Casino. Just never gets old to me

Never.

 

3 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

Early Christmas watch list. 

Home Alone tops the list 

 

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Gremlins or die hard. 

Bad Santa. The first one. not the sequel where they disgraced themselves.

[Heartofice]

I think Klaus last year from Netflix was maybe the best christmas movie I've seen in a very long time. I wasn't expecting much from it, but not only was it beautiful to look at, it was actually pretty touching.

[Veltigar]

Watched the new episode of the Mandalorian yesterday, followed by Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Both were forgettable, so the "good movie" streak I established last week has sadly already been broken.   

Most disappointed by Fire Sage. It makes so much sense to make a comedy about Eurovision and it is a shame that this was the best they could come up with. The major issue was the second act, which should basically be excised completely to make this more watchable. Pretty remarkable how bad that was because the first act was pretty fun and the third act was okay. 

They also made some insanely weird choices. Like starting this story in 1974... I get it that they wanted to build on the fact that even Americans know Abba (who won that year with Waterloo), but come on, Rachel McAdams character barely looks 30, let alone 50. Furthermore, if they had to start in that year, then I don't get why they didn't make more Abba jokes at the expense of Pierce Brosnan. If you're going with that illogical beginning, why not make full use of it?

The worst part of the film, where everything just stopped was the second act music video featuring some of the worst Eurovision acts in recent memory. And I'm not talking about "Eurovision bad" (genre singing grandma's from the Balkan's who are musically not great, but do make you laugh), but just plain bad musicians. The only good one they had was Alexander Rybak and for some reason he doesn't even sing? Like, fuck you movie, that's just insulting.

There was also a distinct Johnny Logan shaped hole in the center of the film. He's Mr. Eurovision for pete's sake and he isn't even referenced once. Very weird, especially since he's still alive and kicking, so why not bring him in for a gag?

To end on a positive note, I really enjoyed Dan Stevens' character and what they did with him. I have said this before and I'll say it again, I don't understand why he isn't getting better roles. Such an underrated actor.

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Veltigar

[maarsen]

6 hours ago, Zorral said:

This is the second time watching Citizen Kane (1941) -- the first time around was on dvd, back in maybe 2010 or thereabouts?

What didn’t strike me upon the first viewing was the operatic cold open staging, in sharp, black silhouette points and angles against a  grey backdrop: Xandau –  Hearst Castle -- presented as the most gothic of gothic crumbling Transylvanian Dracula castles, a 12th Century Prince Igor of the Caucasus, or 16th Century Ivan the Terrible’s Carpathian Mountains' hearts of darkness, such as never seen before or since on screen.

Then we move to other mountains, some centuries later, which strongly struck me on first viewing and has stayed with me ever since, when recalling the film. The childm Charles Foster Kane- William Randolph Hearst, is playing in the falling snow of the Rocky Mountains, among Colorado's mountains of gold, back in 1871. His mother discusses with the lawyers the terms of her new wealth and the transfer, then, of her son to be raised in the east, in the manner of those who generationally inherit wealth. Mother’s skirts are a practical length, her hair a practical country woman's style.

Child Kane is playing Civil War, and he’s playing for the Union, throwing the snowballs in its name, rallying its troops in its name.  This is in multiple upon multiple contrast with most films made at the time, and up through even the 1970's, where it’s always the confederacy represented by the protagonist - white hat (see for example: The Virginian), particularly in the “westerns.” 

And from there, a time without the film industry -- though certainly with newspapers, o so many newspapers! -- we end up in 1941, with both films and newspapers fighting hard for FDR and entry into WWII.

As with any biography-centered work, whether fiction or history, the first half is the interesting part.

I have noticed that too over the years. The Outlaw Josie Wales is another one that does have a Confederate protagonist. 

[Corvinus85]

4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Watched the new episode of the Mandalorian yesterday, followed by Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Both were forgettable, so the "good movie" streak I established last week has sadly already been broken.   

Most disappointed by Fire Sage. It makes so much sense to make a comedy about Eurovision and it is a shame that this was the best they could come up with. The major issue was the second act, which should basically be excised completely to make this more watchable. Pretty remarkable how bad that was because the first act was pretty fun and the third act was okay. 

They also made some insanely weird choices. Like starting this story in 1974... I get it that they wanted to build on the fact that even Americans know Abba (who won that year with Waterloo), but come on, Rachel McAdams character barely looks 30, let alone 50. Furthermore, if they had to start in that year, then I don't get why they didn't make more Abba jokes at the expense of Pierce Brosnan. If you're going with that illogical beginning, why not make full use of it?

The worst part of the film, where everything just stopped was the second act music video featuring some of the worst Eurovision acts in recent memory. And I'm not talking about "Eurovision bad" (genre singing grandma's from the Balkan's who are musically not great, but do make you laugh), but just plain bad musicians. The only good one they had was Alexander Rybak and for some reason he doesn't even sing? Like, fuck you movie, that's just insulting.

There was also a distinct Johnny Logan shaped hole in the center of the film. He's Mr. Eurovision for pete's sake and he isn't even referenced once. Very weird, especially since he's still alive and kicking, so why not bring him in for a gag?

To end on a positive note, I really enjoyed Dan Stevens' character and what they did with him. I have said this before and I'll say it again, I don't understand why he isn't getting better roles. Such an underrated actor.

 

Yes, but most importantly, do you want to listen to Ja Ja Ding Dong again? 

I wouldn't be surprised if one these songs, the Húsavík one at the end, makes it to the Oscars. 

[TheLastWolf]

10 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

The first one. not the sequel where they disgraced themselves

[Heartofice]

I was weirdly pleasantly surprised by Eurovision the movie, mainly because it would be hard for my expectations to be any lower than they were. I saw the trailer and it looked abysmal. It wasn't that, but it wasn't a good Will Ferrell movie, in terms of humour it is incredibly lazy and you get the sense it was improvised quite quickly without anyone trying especially hard.

But it had its charm, it was a kind of innocent bit of fun, and it showed a genuine sense of joy at the eurovision song contest, it didn't seem to be a PR exercise as much as I expected either. And I actually liked the song in the middle with the second tier eurovision acts from the last few years, it was cheesy and shit, but then so is Eurovision.

[Isis]

I just watched Rebecca and it was just really...dilute? Bugger, just realised I wasn't paying enough attention to check for my friend's appearance as an extra. I just wanted MORE from it in every area. The only performance that was decent/good was Mrs van Hopper. The rest were bland. The music was bland. It's a super dramatic story - so why was it all so understated? I especially disliked the ball scene. Urgh. Glad I didn't go to see it at the cinema. 

[SpaceChampion]

Is there a German word for meaning the feeling when anticipating a tv series finale when watching it week to week but not knowing if the season has 8 or 10 or 13 episodes, and thus disappointed when it turns out it is not the finale but happy there are more episodes?

I did that with Fargo this week.

Edited November 24, 2020 by SpaceChampion

[Tywin et al.]

On 11/22/2020 at 8:27 AM, BigFatCoward said:

Gremlins or die hard. 

My man. The list is Gremlins, Die Hard, Home Alone and kindly go fuck yourself if you disagree. 

[Tywin et al.]

3 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Is there a German word for meaning the feeling when anticipating a tv series finale when watching it week to week but not knowing if the season has 8 or 10 or 13 episodes, and thus disappointed when it turns out it is not the finale but happy there are more episodes?

I did that with Fargo this week.

If there isn't an existing one, you can always create a new one. It is known. 

[DMC]

I know, I know, I'm a sap, but I've always really enjoyed The Family Stone as a Christmas movie.

[ithanos]

Got to watch Fatman over the weekend. Almost walked out before the movie started. Got in early and seated when the lights were still on, then had to sit through what felt like endless commercials, a couple trailers, and then more commercials. Forgot how boring this could be when none of the commercials or trailers register.  

Anyway, to the movie. Disappointing. Biggest problem was it didn't know what type of Christmas movie to be. It should've been in the Die Hard lane and stuck to its guns. But instead it straddled between that and some lighter-fare. Gibson was not bad, but then he's played this character before (most recently in Force of Nature). And Walton Goggins presence was wasted as a one dimensional character.

 

[RedEyedGhost]

Christmas movies??  You all skipping over the amazing Thanksgiving movie (just fired it up myself) - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

"People train runs out of Stubville."

[RumHam]

On 11/23/2020 at 10:19 PM, Tywin et al. said:

My man. The list is Gremlins, Die Hard, Home Alone and kindly go fuck yourself if you disagree. 

Eh, home alone isn't on my list. 

while I'm fucking myself I'll add Black Christmas and The Ice Harvest.