Movies that hold up vs. those that don't

Donate To GopherHole
I needed a hockey fix so I watched Slap Shot for thee upteenth time. Drop the puck already
 


Nokomis said:
Watched The Goonies over the weekend with the kids. The kids liked it, but as a grown-up...oof... Did NOT hold up for me. It's like a 13 yo wrote it one afternoon, and Spielberg filmed it over the weekend. The acting is atrocious. The teenage romance stuff is forced and out of place. The adventuring is still fun and some of the gags still land. But overall, it was a rough watch, even for an 80s movie.
Click to expand...
Watched it recently as well and felt the same thing. The writing was awful.
 

I'm a big fan of classic movies, especially Film Noir.

Watched "This Gun for Hire" last night on TCM. first starring role for Alan Ladd and first teaming of Ladd and Veronica Lake. Ladd plays a hit man who gets double-crossed by his employer and sets out to even the score. Lake plays (I'm not making this up) a singing magician who gets mixed up in the plot. Robert Preston (long before the Music Man) is Lake's boyfriend, a police detective who is hunting for Ladd. based on a novel by Graham Greene.

if you only know Alan Ladd from "Shane," this is a much darker character. still a classic Film Noir.
 

Ope3 said:
Annual viewing of Dazed and Confused was over the weekend.

It still holds.

Thoughts:

- Mitch and crew should have taken the deal offered by the seniors and just showed up after the bell rang. Of course that would eliminate a dramatic plot point.

- The girls had it much worse what they had to go through. Ick.

- Was Wooderson a senior with Pink's class were going through the same ritual?

By coincidence I am working my way through Rob Lowe's "Literally!" podcast which I find very entertaining. I just happened to listen to the McConaughey episode yesterday that was actually from 2021. Interesting tidbits:

- It was supposed to be a 1 day/3 line role but he gelled with the cast and they kept extending his part and it turned out to be 3 weeks. It was London/Pink that suggested that it be his car they rolled in to pick up the Aerosmith tickets.

- He talked about the Moon Tower party scene in which Linklater sought ideas from the cast as to what their characters would be doing at the event. One of the actors thought he should be just out in the corner playing songs to his girlfriend. Linklater thought that was ok, but because of the lighting said it would have be more where the action was. The actor stood firm and said it should be more on the periphery.

Essentially, he wrote himself out of the movie. Didn't call out his name specifically. Had to be Pickford. Not a wise career move. McConaughey said it was a lesson he took to heart.
Click to expand...

I believe part of the reason that the Wooderson character got bigger during the shoot was because Jason London and Shawn Andrews didn't get along at all and their characters, Pink and Pickford, were supposed to be buddies and the original plan was for the 2 of them and their girlfriends to be smoking on the 50 yard line and then go get Aerosmith tickets to close the movie.

Many Pickford and Michelle (Milla Jovovich) scenes were cut out of the movie or changed all together due to that conflict.
 


on movies that hold up - went down a little rabbit hole and wound up re-watching the 3 "Sinbad" movies that were made with special effects by Ray Harryhausen.

the 1st - "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is clearly the best
the 2nd - "the Golden Voyage of Sinbad" is OK.
the 3rd - "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" has some moments but is not as good as the first two.

the best things about each movie are the stop-motion animation creatures created by Harryhausen. in The 7th Voyage, Sinbad has a sword-fight with a skeleton - a preview of the great skeleton fight that Harryhausen later created for "Jason and the Argonauts."

for various reasons, a different actor plays Sinbad in each movie. Kerwin Matthews in the 1st - John Phillip Law in the 2nd and Patrick Wayne (son of the Duke) in the 3rd. The 2nd movie does has Tom Baker as an evil wizard (this was before he was the 4th doctor on Doctor Who).
 

TRF Guy said:
I needed a hockey fix so I watched Slap Shot for thee upteenth time. Drop the puck already
Click to expand...

I went to the Rookie Faceoff VGK-Anaheim game last Friday night, just to get a hockey fix and see some of the young prospects play some hockey. One would think there are better things to do on a Friday night? But I deemed it a great use of my time.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I went to the Rookie Faceoff VGK-Anaheim game last Friday night, just to get a hockey fix and see some of the young prospects play some hockey. One would think there are better things to do on a Friday night? But I deemed it a great use of my time.
Click to expand...
I’m a certified hockey nut. I can watch mites up to the pros. I’ve been coaching the game for 30 years now and don’t plan on quitting anytime soon
 

Ope3 said:
The Right Stuff is my favorite movie. Agree on Levon Helm's contribution as Ridley/narrator.

He wasn't the only nontraditional actor cast in the film. NFL HoFamer Anthony Munoz played Gonzalez, a hospital orderly. Also the real Chuck Yeager makes a cameo playing a patron at Pancho's.

As for Helm, this always comes to mind...

Click to expand...
I'm rewatching The Right Stuff.

Yeager: You get that helmet?

Ridley: Yeah. (Tosses it over). It MIGHT work.

Yeager: I'll look like The Galloping Ghost in this.
 



Maybe I mentioned this long ago on this thread, but after watching again last night, Last of the Mohicans is such a rollicking good 2 hour film. The score, the storyline, the fight scenes and the acting all measure up strongly and the final 20 minutes is right up there with the best climactic ends of movies.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Maybe I mentioned this long ago on this thread, but after watching again last night, Last of the Mohicans is such a rollicking good 2 hour film. The score, the storyline, the fight scenes and the acting all measure up strongly and the final 20 minutes is right up there with the best climactic ends of movies.
Click to expand...
I know I saw Last of the Mohicans in the theater when it was originally released, but I don't think I ever saw it again. I recall liking it.

Odd I never have revisited given how much I revere Daniel Day Lewis & Michael Mann. I will add it to my queue.
 





coolhandgopher said:
Maybe I mentioned this long ago on this thread, but after watching again last night, Last of the Mohicans is such a rollicking good 2 hour film. The score, the storyline, the fight scenes and the acting all measure up strongly and the final 20 minutes is right up there with the best climactic ends of movies.
Click to expand...

Great music as well.
 

Ope3 said:
I know I saw Last of the Mohicans in the theater when it was originally released, but I don't think I ever saw it again. I recall liking it.

Odd I never have revisited given how much I revere Daniel Day Lewis & Michael Mann. I will add it to my queue.
Click to expand...

excellent film. I have also seen the 1936 version starring Randolph Scott as Hawkeye and Bruce Cabot as Magua. some changes were made to the story but the basic plot is still intact.

and here's a believe-it-or-not: there was a Canadian TV series based on the novel which featured Lon Chaney Jr. as Chingachgook.
 

saw this story and didn't want to start a thread for it, so thought I'd put it here.

the question is - how wealthy was the McCallister family in "Home Alone."

the New York Times attempted to answer the question:

The “Home Alone” house is a real standing home today. It’s located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. The suburb is one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods, NYT further reports. According to Zillow, the 5,398 square-foot home has 10 bedrooms and six bathrooms. The real estate resource estimates the home’s value is currently $2,348,900. Monthly rent for the home? A whopping $14,892.

The New York Times recently talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s, estimating the McCallister’s income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year. This would put the family in the top 1% of households in the U.S.

Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
saw this story and didn't want to start a thread for it, so thought I'd put it here.

the question is - how wealthy was the McCallister family in "Home Alone."

the New York Times attempted to answer the question:

The “Home Alone” house is a real standing home today. It’s located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. The suburb is one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods, NYT further reports. According to Zillow, the 5,398 square-foot home has 10 bedrooms and six bathrooms. The real estate resource estimates the home’s value is currently $2,348,900. Monthly rent for the home? A whopping $14,892.

The New York Times recently talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s, estimating the McCallister’s income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year. This would put the family in the top 1% of households in the U.S.

Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.
Click to expand...
They ordered like 12 pizzas!
 

short ornery norwegian said:
saw this story and didn't want to start a thread for it, so thought I'd put it here.

the question is - how wealthy was the McCallister family in "Home Alone."

the New York Times attempted to answer the question:

The “Home Alone” house is a real standing home today. It’s located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. The suburb is one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods, NYT further reports. According to Zillow, the 5,398 square-foot home has 10 bedrooms and six bathrooms. The real estate resource estimates the home’s value is currently $2,348,900. Monthly rent for the home? A whopping $14,892.

The New York Times recently talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s, estimating the McCallister’s income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year. This would put the family in the top 1% of households in the U.S.

Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.
Click to expand...
My understanding is that the dad was the "Sausage King of Chicago".
 



short ornery norwegian said:
saw this story and didn't want to start a thread for it, so thought I'd put it here.

the question is - how wealthy was the McCallister family in "Home Alone."

the New York Times attempted to answer the question:

The “Home Alone” house is a real standing home today. It’s located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. The suburb is one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods, NYT further reports. According to Zillow, the 5,398 square-foot home has 10 bedrooms and six bathrooms. The real estate resource estimates the home’s value is currently $2,348,900. Monthly rent for the home? A whopping $14,892.

The New York Times recently talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s, estimating the McCallister’s income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year. This would put the family in the top 1% of households in the U.S.

Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.
Click to expand...
How much would they have had to make to not only afford the house, but afford taking their free loading relatives on Christmas vacation every year?
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
How much would they have had to make to not only afford the house, but afford taking their free loading relatives on Christmas vacation every year?
Click to expand...

I went down this rabbit hole and came across all kinds of theories - including the theory that the McCallister family was connected to organized crime - because the movies never make it clear what the parents do to earn a living. it is truly amazing the things you can run across on the internet.
 

Finished 1941 the other day. Still as funny as I remembered. Spielberg comedy from 1979. Some might be offended by a certain word, but it was WWII. Great combo of Animal House, It's a mad mad mad world and Blues Brothers.
 

tikited said:
Finished 1941 the other day. Still as funny as I remembered. Spielberg comedy from 1979. Some might be offended by a certain word, but it was WWII. Great combo of Animal House, It's a mad mad mad world and Blues Brothers.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Vert funny slapstick comedy. The reception seemed to be more about people wanting to see Spielberg finally fail or wanted him to go sci-fi again. It tuned a profit too. But since that profit wasn't anywhere near as big as Jaws or Close Encounters people thought it was a failure.
 

I still love "Jerry McGuire." I recently caught about half an hour of "An Officer and a Gentleman." It held up quite well.
 

Iceland12 said:
Agreed. Vert funny slapstick comedy. The reception seemed to be more about people wanting to see Spielberg finally fail or wanted him to go sci-fi again. It tuned a profit too. But since that profit wasn't anywhere near as big as Jaws or Close Encounters people thought it was a failure.
Click to expand...

comedy is very subjective. you either think something is funny or you don't. there was a movie called "The Big Bus" - a spoof of disaster movies. came out a couple of years before "Animal House" and "Airplane." got terrible reviews. my brother thinks it's a comedy classic.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
comedy is very subjective. you either think something is funny or you don't. there was a movie called "The Big Bus" - a spoof of disaster movies. came out a couple of years before "Animal House" and "Airplane." got terrible reviews. my brother thinks it's a comedy classic.
Click to expand...

So you've said..
 

Golda. Timeless show. Especially relevant these days.
 

I watched The Last Detail this week, with Jack Nicholson and a very young Randy Quaid leading the cast. I really enjoyed it, as I have with so many of Hal Ashby's movies from the '70s and was reminded yet again of the kinetic energy that Nicholson possessed in his young days on the screen.

For those who love cameos/small roles for unknown actors who have big careers, Gilda Radner and Carol Kane make very early appearances in their respective careers (for Radner, her first credited role).

Mentioning Ashby, when I own my dream movie house, one of the first tasks will be to run a retrospective of Ashby's films from the '70s: Last Detail, Harold & Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home and a few I still need to cross off my list-Being There, Bound for Glory, The Landlord.
 

coolhandgopher said:
I watched The Last Detail this week, with Jack Nicholson and a very young Randy Quaid leading the cast. I really enjoyed it, as I have with so many of Hal Ashby's movies from the '70s and was reminded yet again of the kinetic energy that Nicholson possessed in his young days on the screen.

For those who love cameos/small roles for unknown actors who have big careers, Gilda Radner and Carol Kane make very early appearances in their respective careers (for Radner, her first credited role).

Mentioning Ashby, when I own my dream movie house, one of the first tasks will be to run a retrospective of Ashby's films from the '70s: Last Detail, Harold & Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home and a few I still need to cross off my list-Being There, Bound for Glory, The Landlord.
Click to expand...
Still haven't seen Being There? Jeff Tweedy I am sure thinks you need to fill that gap.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom