Movies that hold up vs. those that don't

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I'd rate last week 5/10. Two weeks ago was surprisingly good; I'd rate it a 7. I was really looking forward to Dan Levy hosting but was kind of disappointed; I'd rate it a 4. So a mixed bag but certainly not terrible.

Not sure what you mean by previous cast since there's continuous turnover. You mean like Leslie Jones & Vanessa Bayer? Yeah, they were good. I think Chloe Fineman & Ego Nwodim have potential, solid so far. Mikey Day is really funny and versatile, definitely my current favorite.
 

Wally said:
I agree, the good snl skits are few and far between. I do like the news desk segment, forget what its called.
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This is what I mean when I say dissing SNL doesn't hold up. If you don't know that the "news desk segment" is called Weekend Update, you're not giving a qualified opinion.

Speaking of which, I think Colin Jost & Michael Che are great together. Definitely the best duo since Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. Seth Meyers is still the GOAT.
 

Nokomis said:
I'd rate last week 5/10. Two weeks ago was surprisingly good; I'd rate it a 7. I was really looking forward to Dan Levy hosting but was kind of disappointed; I'd rate it a 4. So a mixed bag but certainly not terrible.

Not sure what you mean by previous cast since there's continuous turnover. You mean like Leslie Jones & Vanessa Bayer? Yeah, they were good. I think Chloe Fineman & Ego Nwodim have potential, solid so far. Mikey Day is really funny and versatile, definitely my current favorite.
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I mean when a cast has a solid run for multiple years. I guess the 2008-2015 range for me. Since Wigg, Armenson, Sandburg, etc. left I haven't been able to find anyone funny outside of McKinnon.
 

Nokomis said:
This is what I mean when I say dissing SNL doesn't hold up. If you don't know that the "news desk segment" is called Weekend Update, you're not giving a qualified opinion.

Speaking of which, I think Colin Jost & Michael Che are great together. Definitely the best duo since Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. Seth Meyers is still the GOAT.
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Couldn't remember and didn't think it was worth googling.
 

tikited said:
Yes Garden State.

SNL has been really, really bad the last few seasons. The cast is very blah. The previous cast was one of the best ever with most of the best ones being women. Major drop off in talent after that.
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Can't agree with the SNL take at all.
 


Nokomis said:
I'd rate last week 5/10. Two weeks ago was surprisingly good; I'd rate it a 7. I was really looking forward to Dan Levy hosting but was kind of disappointed; I'd rate it a 4. So a mixed bag but certainly not terrible.

Not sure what you mean by previous cast since there's continuous turnover. You mean like Leslie Jones & Vanessa Bayer? Yeah, they were good. I think Chloe Fineman & Ego Nwodim have potential, solid so far. Mikey Day is really funny and versatile, definitely my current favorite.
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Agree with every word. The one with that guy from Bridgerton who I had never heard of was an excellent episode.
 

tikited said:
I mean when a cast has a solid run for multiple years. I guess the 2008-2015 range for me. Since Wigg, Armenson, Sandburg, etc. left I haven't been able to find anyone funny outside of McKinnon.
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I think they all have their moments. Though it's probably time for Cecily Strong & Aidy Bryant to retire and to cut Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, & Heidi Gartner loose. The others seem serviceable. McKinnon is a future HOFer, and Day, Fineman, & Nwodim seem to having staying power. Beck Bennet is a good journeyman like Jason Sudeikis or Taran Killam. Anyway, so I think they're "funny", though you're right; McKinnon is the clear star.
 

Wally said:
Couldn't remember and didn't think it was worth googling.
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But worth commenting on an anonymous message board? Careful, you're inching into MplsGopher territory. :)
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Agree with every word. The one with that guy from Bridgerton who I had never heard of was an excellent episode.
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Yeah, that was an unexpectedly great episode. It seems the best episodes are from non-comedy people and the duds are with comedians. The Bridgerton guy and Dan Levy are perfect examples. Maybe the non-comedians just let loose have fun with it, and maybe the comedians feel they have something to prove and try too hard.
 



I re-watched Gone Girl last weekend. I remember being somewhat disappointed in it originally, as I had super high expectations due to it being a David Fincher film. I think I liked it better the second time. However, the reason I'm mentioning it is as I was watching it, I kept thinking to myself, "could they even make this movie in 2021"? The basic premise is that a sociopathic woman fakes multiple domestic abuse instances, rapes, stalking, etc. to get what she wants. I'm thinking after "me too" that a studio wouldn't touch that with a 10-foot pole.
 

getting off-topic with the SNL stuff - but -
I was in college when SNL started, and those first few years with the original cast were nuts.
And, it was just a different time. a lot of the stuff they got away with back then would never make it on the air today. They did a sketch where Bill Murray was a PR consultant - advising the Chamber of Commerce of Sodom. (as of Sodom and Gomorrah). Murray is asking, "So why do people come to Sodom?" and Dan Ackroyd jumps up with a big grin on his face and yells, "for the sodomy!" There is no way in h*ll that the censors would let that fly today.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
getting off-topic with the SNL stuff - but -
I was in college when SNL started, and those first few years with the original cast were nuts.
And, it was just a different time. a lot of the stuff they got away with back then would never make it on the air today. They did a sketch where Bill Murray was a PR consultant - advising the Chamber of Commerce of Sodom. (as of Sodom and Gomorrah). Murray is asking, "So why do people come to Sodom?" and Dan Ackroyd jumps up with a big grin on his face and yells, "for the sodomy!" There is no way in h*ll that the censors would let that fly today.
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But what's funny about that? I'm not being prudish; the joke is just lame. They give away the punchline in the set-up; everyone knows what Ackroyd's going to say before he says it. Is it funny because he said sodomy on live tv? Thankfully the writers have gotten a little more sophisticated than that, though there are still plenty of dick jokes. Last week they did a whole musical number about having a boner while sitting next to your friend at a bachelor party.
 

Nokomis said:
But what's funny about that? I'm not being prudish; the joke is just lame. They give away the punchline in the set-up; everyone knows what Ackroyd's going to say before he says it. Is it funny because he said sodomy on live tv? Thankfully the writers have gotten a little more sophisticated than that, though there are still plenty of dick jokes. Last week they did a whole musical number about having a boner while sitting next to your friend at a bachelor party.
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putting this into context - at that time (mid-70's), New York City had a really poor public image. it was seen as a hotbed of crime, and the Times Square area was full of adult bookstores and XXX theaters. So New York went on a big public relations campaign to improve its image. that is what the sketch was playing off - the idea of Sodom (as a stand-in for NYC) trying to improve its image. I will stand by my opinion that it is a funny sketch when seen in full. Again, my original point is that standards have changed, and a lot of the things that got on the air in the 70's would not be allowed today.
 




Going back to the OP mentioning Honey I Shrunk the Kids, another Rick Moranis movie that holds up reasonably well (I think) is Little Giants. Watched it randomly like a month ago, and was still entertained.
 

SNL: there have been very rare sketches that I thought were laugh out loud funny over the recent years, that didn't have to do with politics. Just is what it is. Most of the regular sketches are just plain weird or they just aren't funny.

I can pretty much just watch whatever political sketch they do (oftentimes the opening one), plus weekend update which is almost always gold with Jost & Che, and call it good.
 



Not exactly the right place for this, but watched Coming 2 America this weekend-woof, was it bad. I wasn’t expecting too much, but a few laughs would have been nice? They mined the material from the original so much, there just wasn’t any freshness to it all. Save yourself a couple hours or better yet, watch the original again (which holds up well).
 

Back to the Future I holds up well, although there are a few parts that might be a bit cringeworthy in today's culture. Back to the Future II is still a decent movie but doesn't hold up as well for a variety of reasons, including that any movie that predicates a distant future that has already past and which very little of it came true is destined for issues with the test of time. The storyline in II is also a little bonkers in terms of probability and timing. Back to the Future III holds out OK and remains good fun. Great Scott!

The effects in the Star Wars Prequels did not age well. Way too much CGA, and it's noticeable, especially compared to the far better effects of 7, 8, 9 (and of Rogue 1). The Star Wars original trilogy struggles with sound crispness, graphics, and of course stormtroopers that seem very worthless and comically inept. They are still good movies, but if Disney were to remake them with new graphic and sounds makeovers and edit some of the stormtrooper stuff, it'd probably be worth it. Notably, some of the very worst effects in the original trilogy were the effects added in the late 90s. Some of it was OK, but two egregious and hardly forgivable errors: 1. the added effects for the band in Jabba's Palace. WTF?! Annoying and added nothing. 2. the changed music at the very end of RotJ. The re-done music was lame/boring, and certainly didn't seem celebratory, as was the mood in the original version.

A genre that hasn't gotten any mention yet: the horror genre. Nightmare on Elm Street, in particular, was a very cool concept. In the 80s, the first several were a combination of freaky, scary, and good fun. But oof, the Dream Warriors' graphics were awful. I maintain that the original remains creepy and worth another watch. Other undead scenes with bad 80s graphics: The Golden Child. What about Ghostbusters?
 

coolhandgopher said:
Not exactly the right place for this, but watched Coming 2 America this weekend-woof, was it bad. I wasn’t expecting too much, but a few laughs would have been nice? They mined the material from the original so much, there just wasn’t any freshness to it all. Save yourself a couple hours or better yet, watch the original again (which holds up well).
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Yikes. I'm sad to hear this. I watched it today and really liked it. We usually are on the same page. I was expecting to be disappointed, and instead was really surprised. Oh well.
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Yikes. I'm sad to hear this. I watched it today and really liked it. We usually are on the same page. I was expecting to be disappointed, and instead was really surprised. Oh well.
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Perhaps it was expectations coming in-like I said, I thought I wasn't expecting much, but I recently listened to the "Rewatchables" podcast about the original, so I probably was more hyped than I thought.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Not exactly the right place for this, but watched Coming 2 America this weekend-woof, was it bad. I wasn’t expecting too much, but a few laughs would have been nice? They mined the material from the original so much, there just wasn’t any freshness to it all. Save yourself a couple hours or better yet, watch the original again (which holds up well).
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Exactly what the previews suggested to me. It's tough to do a sequel, especially 30 years later. It just feels like a cash grab. Not too different from the recent Bill & Ted movie (although not technically a sequel) in that respect.
 

Slap Shot, the Warriors, Death Wish & a bunch of others from the 70's that I remember fondly. When I go back & watch them now, I love the nostalgia, & some of the iconic moments, but the dialogue & acting are brutal.
 


"Warriors.....come out and play......" Warriors is one movie where it helps to be under some chemical influence. I still like the look of the film - the visuals - the different gang costumes ("The Baseball Furies"). I would compare the Warriors to 'Escape from New York' in terms of having a unique vision.
Or "Streets of Fire" - one of my guilty pleasures. A completely over-the top movie, but it exists in a world all its own.

Slap Shot - a little dated but I would say that movie has some of the most quotable lines of any comedy. To this day, when I watch a hockey game, and there's a penalty, I find myself saying...."You go to the box; you feel shame!"
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
Slap Shot, the Warriors, Death Wish & a bunch of others from the 70's that I remember fondly. When I go back & watch them now, I love the nostalgia, & some of the iconic moments, but the dialogue & acting are brutal.
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These still hold up for me, probably due partially to nostalgia, but I still find them incredibly fun and engaging to watch--The Warriors has a great plot and Slap Shot has the Hanson brothers and Reg Dunlap--sorry CRG, they're timeless.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
"Warriors.....come out and play......" Warriors is one movie where it helps to be under some chemical influence. I still like the look of the film - the visuals - the different gang costumes ("The Baseball Furies"). I would compare the Warriors to 'Escape from New York' in terms of having a unique vision.
Or "Streets of Fire" - one of my guilty pleasures. A completely over-the top movie, but it exists in a world all its own.

Slap Shot - a little dated but I would say that movie has some of the most quotable lines of any comedy. To this day, when I watch a hockey game, and there's a penalty, I find myself saying...."You go to the box; you feel shame!"
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I love the cinematography. The opening scene with the 'Wonder Wheel' and the gangs all walking to the subway stops, among others, are fantastic. The Baseball Furies was the go-to Halloween costume in my neighborhood. I love that stuff. It's inconic. That said, the dialogue & acting are horrible. It's no different than watching a re-run of Barnaby Jones, where you ask yourself "How the hell did we watch this crap"?

Slap Shot it more of the same. There are about 5 funny lines & of course the fight scenes. Take those away & you've got a piss-poor movie. My favorite:

 

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