Movies that hold up vs. those that don't

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Ope3 said:
I went to one of the 40th Anniversary screenings of Stand by Me. It was a joy to see the restored version on a big screen and be immersed in the film without any distractions.


Cherry flavor Pez. No question about it.

- Vern
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One of my personal favorite movies of all time
 

upnorthkid said:
One of my personal favorite movies of all time
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I've always thought of Stand by Me quite fondly as an excellent film. Revisiting it a few times in the past 2 years after not viewing it for several decades has me thinking it should be in my Top 20, at minimum.

When it was released, I was not much older than the main characters in the film. 40 years later, it's a much more reverent perspective.

Something I had not previously picked up on, was how autobiographical and similar Gordie is to the original story author, Stephen King. In reading about it now, many of the events and characters were based on King's youth beyond the protagonist becoming an author himself.

I wonder how Stephen feels about Dennis giving Gordie a Yankees cap instead of his beloved Red Sox?
 

Ope3 said:
I've always thought of Stand by Me quite fondly as an excellent film. Revisiting it a few times in the past 2 years after not viewing it for several decades has me thinking it should be in my Top 20, at minimum.

When it was released, I was not much older than the main characters in the film. 40 years later, it's a much more reverent perspective.

Something I had not previously picked up on, was how autobiographical and similar Gordie is to the original story author, Stephen King. In reading about it now, many of the events and characters were based on King's youth beyond the protagonist becoming an author himself.

I wonder how Stephen feels about Dennis giving Gordie a Yankees cap instead of his beloved Red Sox?
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i had not thought about this angle. I'll have to keep in mind the next time I watch it as I usually watch once every year or two when I'm feeling nostalgic.

Thanks for the info!
 


No Twins, Wolves or Wild tonight.

Popcorn is getting ready for the annual Dazed and Confused start to finish viewing.
 


Ope3 said:
No Twins, Wolves or Wild tonight.

Popcorn is getting ready for the annual Dazed and Confused start to finish viewing.
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Perhaps I should have waited a few weeks for the Dazed and Confused rewatch as we are a mere weeks away from the Golden Anniversary of the date the events take place.

The film still holds up.

Understated funny line, Slater: Hey Coach Conrad! Remember me?

Mitch's revenge ploy on O'Bannion was pretty genius on multiple levels. He plotted it and got to watch it. While his classmates that executed it had to flee the scene, Mitch got to keep hanging at the Emporium with the older crew. That allows him to hang with the Soph girl and make his move at the Moon Tower.

I wonder if Affleck was bummed his character gets written out pre-Moon Tower?
 
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Ope3 said:
I wonder if Affleck was bummed his character gets written out pre-Moon Tower?
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It's very possible that Affleck's character had to be written out of the rest of the film because he broke his ankle filming the Emporium scene:

Key, often-cited, memories from Affleck include:
  • Collaboration: Linklater told the cast that producing the script exactly as written would be an "underachievement," encouraging them to contribute to their characters.
  • On-Set Atmosphere: It was a wild, memorable shoot with young actors, where the line between the hotel and the set was "barely distinguishable".
  • "Faking" Weed Use: Affleck revealed he had to fake smoking weed during filming because he had a "dissociative panic attack" from the drug at age 15.
  • Injured on Set: He broke his ankle while filming a scene, specifically when his character, O'Bannion, was being hit with paint.
  • Character Reflection: He joked that being the "single unappealing character" in a movie full of likable people was "not a great career strength".
 

Slim Tubby said:
It's very possible that Affleck's character had to be written out of the rest of the film because he broke his ankle filming the Emporium scene:

Key, often-cited, memories from Affleck include:
  • Collaboration: Linklater told the cast that producing the script exactly as written would be an "underachievement," encouraging them to contribute to their characters.
  • On-Set Atmosphere: It was a wild, memorable shoot with young actors, where the line between the hotel and the set was "barely distinguishable".
  • "Faking" Weed Use: Affleck revealed he had to fake smoking weed during filming because he had a "dissociative panic attack" from the drug at age 15.
  • Injured on Set: He broke his ankle while filming a scene, specifically when his character, O'Bannion, was being hit with paint.
  • Character Reflection: He joked that being the "single unappealing character" in a movie full of likable people was "not a great career strength".
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That is quite possible that the injury hastened his exit, depending on whether or not they filmed in sequence.

I would argue there were a few of other unappealing characters, notably Darla Marks (Parker Posey), Clint Bruno & Carl Burnett.
 
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Ope3 said:
That is quite possible that the injury hastened his exit, depending on whether or not they filmed in sequence.

I would argue there were a few of other unappealing characters, notably Darla Marks (Parker Posey), Clint Bruno & Carl Burnett.
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At least with O'Bannion, he's not a bad guy to have on your side blocking for ya.

I recall no redeeming factors for Carl Burnett. Similarly for Darla and Clint, but Carl's thru-line of shitty behavior stands out. From busting up Hirschfelder's good time to stupidly smashing the bottle of beer (man, if Benny ever found out), he deserved a summer full of getting his ass busted.

If you haven't read the oral history, "Alright, Alright, Alright" by Melissa Maerz, it's a ready fun trip.
 



coolhandgopher said:
At least with O'Bannion, he's not a bad guy to have on your side blocking for ya.

I recall no redeeming factors for Carl Burnett. Similarly for Darla and Clint, but Carl's thru-line of shitty behavior stands out. From busting up Hirschfelder's good time to stupidly smashing the bottle of beer (man, if Benny ever found out), he deserved a summer full of getting his ass busted.

If you haven't read the oral history, "Alright, Alright, Alright" by Melissa Maerz, it's a ready fun trip.
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Burnett's douchey persona is evident throughout the film. Unlike O'Bannion, who seems to at least have a redeeming quality of being a good O-Lineman, Carl displays none.

I think he played SS in the 1 run performance by Mitch. Maybe he can field like Ozzie Smith.

He was particularly annoyingly condescending with the attitude he showed the chaperones while exiting the Junior High party.

My theory on his chucking the beer is that he was also a lightweight with regards to consuming alcohol.
 

Ope3 said:
Perhaps I should have waited a few weeks for the Dazed and Confused rewatch as we are a mere weeks away from the Golden Anniversary of the date the events take place.

The film still holds up.

Understand funny line, Slater: Hey Coach Conrad! Remember me?

Mitch's revenge ploy on O'Bannion was pretty genius on multiple levels. He plotted it and got to watch it. While his classmates that executed it had to flee the scene, Mitch got to keep hanging at the Emporium with the older crew. That allows him to hang with the Soph girl and make his move at the Moon Tower.

I wonder if Affleck was bummed his character gets written out pre-Moon Tower?
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Extending out your very accurate take on Mitch's genius level move is his scheming involving Julie (the sophomore girl):
--bringing her into the conspiracy as a plotter gave them a project together, avoiding awkward conversation (such as Tony and the rising freshman girl) and as the plan came to fruition, they united to pull off a legendary prank on the despised O'Bannion. . .
--as O'Bannion flunked senior year and repeated, this means that Julie's male classmates went through the torment a year before from him. She will spread the legend of Mitch's genius like wildfire and before their flame fizzles out, he will begin HS with cred not only with his grade level, but also the sophomores and of course, Pink, the cool king of the senior class.
--finally, O'Bannion's animus throughout the summer will be directed mostly towards Carl and any others that he could identify playing the prank on him. While not the brightest, O'Bannion will likely remember that Mitch was not present for the prank (he should recall pushing him on the way towards the car), and unless Carl sells him out (a distinct possibility) no one will sell Mitch out to O'Bannion and his summer should be relatively peaceful.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Extending out your very accurate take on Mitch's genius level move is his scheming involving Julie (the sophomore girl):
--bringing her into the conspiracy as a plotter gave them a project together, avoiding awkward conversation (such as Tony and the rising freshman girl) and as the plan came to fruition, they united to pull off a legendary prank on the despised O'Bannion. . .
--as O'Bannion flunked senior year and repeated, this means that Julie's male classmates went through the torment a year before from him. She will spread the legend of Mitch's genius like wildfire and before their flame fizzles out, he will begin HS with cred not only with his grade level, but also the sophomores and of course, Pink, the cool king of the senior class.
--finally, O'Bannion's animus throughout the summer will be directed mostly towards Carl and any others that he could identify playing the prank on him. While not the brightest, O'Bannion will likely remember that Mitch was not present for the prank (he should recall pushing him on the way towards the car), and unless Carl sells him out (a distinct possibility) no one will sell Mitch out to O'Bannion and his summer should be relatively peaceful.
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Yes! I meant to call out the part in bold regarding the prank, as perhaps the best part.

Plausible deniability regarding being involved at all, despite being the mastermind behind the entire scheme.
 

Ope3 said:
Burnett's douchey persona is evident throughout the film. Unlike O'Bannion, who seems to at least have a redeeming quality of being a good O-Lineman, Carl displays none.

I think he played SS in the 1 run performance by Mitch. Maybe he can field like Ozzie Smith.

He was particularly annoyingly condescending with the attitude he showed the chaperones while exiting the Junior High party.

My theory on his chucking the beer is that he was also a lightweight with regards to consuming alcohol.
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Yeah, Burnett's a classic mama's boy, all hat/no cattle type. As you pointed out, he was the shortstop and he was the one who suggested that Mitch leave through the outfield to spare the others (but let's be honest, himself).

Not only is the smashing the beer bottle/being a lightweight theory spot on, but his false bravado towards Hirschfelder about leaving the dance early was not only a bad friend cockblock, but steeped in the jealousy of no prospects for himself.

Here's the reality for Carl though--he was likely the king of middle school due to his big mouth and false bravado, but his friends are going to start seeing through his shit and not tolerating it at HS, especially with Mitch's transformative, legendary night with promises of greatness ahead (like Jordan's 63 in the playoffs against the Celtics) and Mitch will be a much better hang than Carl. Pink and his crew will tolerate most of Mitch's boys, but Carl will be too entitled and mouthy (and he'll always wear the yoke of his Mommy pulling the shotgun to protect him) for the upperclassmen. Bye bye Carl, and he's too scrawny to even warrant O'Bannion's worth on the football field.
 



I introduced Smokey & the Bandit to my boys last night and we were a trio of 8 year old boys watching together. Fred (Cletus’ basset hound) stole the show for them, but the Bandit and Snowman’s hijinks against Buford T. Justice were well appreciated also. I have already fielded requests for Smokey & the Bandit 2 for tonight. Already thinking of when I can show them Any Which Way But Loose.
 

coolhandgopher said:
I introduced Smokey & the Bandit to my boys last night and we were a trio of 8 year old boys watching together. Fred (Cletus’ basset hound) stole the show for them, but the Bandit and Snowman’s hijinks against Buford T. Justice were well appreciated also. I have already fielded requests for Smokey & the Bandit 2 for tonight. Already thinking of when I can show them Any Which Way But Loose.
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Sally Field.

Smoke show.
 

Ope3 said:
Perhaps I should have waited a few weeks for the Dazed and Confused rewatch as we are a mere weeks away from the Golden Anniversary of the date the events take place.

The film still holds up.

Understand funny line, Slater: Hey Coach Conrad! Remember me?

Mitch's revenge ploy on O'Bannion was pretty genius on multiple levels. He plotted it and got to watch it. While his classmates that executed it had to flee the scene, Mitch got to keep hanging at the Emporium with the older crew. That allows him to hang with the Soph girl and make his move at the Moon Tower.

I wonder if Affleck was bummed his character gets written out pre-Moon Tower?
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The revenge plot has some holes in it.... how did they know there was paint near by? How did their buddy with the car appear so fast before cell phone times? I could go on, but why bother. The revenge was awesome and my favorite part is when Pink had to jump up on the car to avoid getting run over.
 
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coolhandgopher said:
Yeah, Burnett's a classic mama's boy, all hat/no cattle type. As you pointed out, he was the shortstop and he was the one who suggested that Mitch leave through the outfield to spare the others (but let's be honest, himself).

Not only is the smashing the beer bottle/being a lightweight theory spot on, but his false bravado towards Hirschfelder about leaving the dance early was not only a bad friend cockblock, but steeped in the jealousy of no prospects for himself.

Here's the reality for Carl though--he was likely the king of middle school due to his big mouth and false bravado, but his friends are going to start seeing through his shit and not tolerating it at HS, especially with Mitch's transformative, legendary night with promises of greatness ahead (like Jordan's 63 in the playoffs against the Celtics) and Mitch will be a much better hang than Carl. Pink and his crew will tolerate most of Mitch's boys, but Carl will be too entitled and mouthy (and he'll always wear the yoke of his Mommy pulling the shotgun to protect him) for the upperclassmen. Bye bye Carl, and he's too scrawny to even warrant O'Bannion's worth on the football field.
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"Damn you Carl!"
 

tikited said:
The revenge plot has some holes in it.... how did they know there was paint near by? How did their buddy with the car appear so fast before cell phone times? I could go on, but why bother. The revenge was awesome and my favorite part is when Pink had to jump up on the car to avoid getting run over.
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Yeah, feels like it would take more than an hour to hatch that scheme, especially pre-cell phone. Probably more than a few billiards games for O'Bannion.

Maybe there was a paint or hardware store right next to the Emporium?
 

I finally got around to re-watching Top Secret! I have been meaning to catch up with that since the passing of Val Kilmer. He is pretty brilliant in this, walking the tightrope of a serious performer while totally being in on the joke.

Overall, it gets a rather modest "still holds up" endorsement. The things that they are spoofing, Elvis Presley movies, spy flicks, surf music and Eastern Europe pre-demise of the Iron Curtain are all tough to recall in this current age. I think anyone under 50 might have trouble even recognizing that this was a satire.

Still I liked it for the nostalgia. I had forgot that Omar Sharif had a supporting role, and one of the LOL scenes. Lots of sight gags.

Not nearly as enduring as Airplane!
 

Ope3 said:
Yeah, feels like it would take more than an hour to hatch that scheme, especially pre-cell phone. Probably more than a few billiards games for O'Bannion.

Maybe there was a paint or hardware store right next to the Emporium?
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I bought my wife an Emporium tee shirt a few years ago. I will check it out to see if I can locate the paint store....
 

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