"Evil Dead", the only one of his I have seen, is among few of the exceptions: "Dead Alive", "They Live", etc. But I prefer horror in the same way I like my black coffee: dark, powerful, no sweetener.
I had a chance to see Possession here at one of the repertoire theaters years ago and regret missing the opportunity. Enjoy.
Evil Deads/Army of Darkness and the much more recent Drag Me To Hell are all super fun for me. But totally a different lane than the straight up horror flicks.
I never could get with the evil dead franchise, but some horror comedies are great. I think mostly i like ones that poke fun at horror tropes, like Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, Shaun of the Dead, Behind The Mask, etc. Doesn't always work though. I didn't care for Cabin in the Woods or Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 either.
I was listening to a podcast where Eli Roth was talking about this movie called Peices that sounds pretty incredible.
It's all about Bruce Campbell for me - I find him hilarious.
I remember liking Bubba Ho Tep, and as a person he seems funny and cool but i can't get into his movies for some reason. Even the Ash Vs. Evil Dead show on Netflix I don't' think I made it past the first episode. Speaking of which - there was a show called Scream Queens in 2015 that is now on Hulu and it has Jamie Lee Curtis and the first episode of that had me DYING laughing. The rest of the season is OK, but that first episode is so crude and funny I highly recommend it.
Also I never noticed until it was pointed out to me, but the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pt 2 poster is a copy of the Breakfast Club poster. Google it. pretty funny.
I first saw this around the time it came out and really loved it. Never understood the bad, initial reception and I think it has aged extremely well. I'd really love to see this on the big screen.
Just stole the 3 hour long Criterion edition of this one. Back in 1986 this movie caused one of my most severe screen crushes
I watched Pieces yesterday. It was campy, trashy, and dumb, but funny. It was filmed in Europe where the director was also filming Bruce Lee knock offs with a guy called Bruce Le. So Bruce Le suddenly appears, does some Kung Fu, and then says something about bad chow mein and then is never seen again. Also a chick skateboards into a giant mirror for no reason and a boy kills his mom with an ax after she catches him with a nude lady puzzle. The women are usually topless when they get killed, because that is just how they roll. The director was like "It's been ten minutes since we've seen any titties, and I got bills to pay".
I just saw "Betty Blue" yesterday. That was a hell of a film. Reminds me of when I tried to help out a girlfriend find a job before she in a moment of anger trashed my aunt's dress shop. That was the end of the relationship. Anyhow, I was reading Beatrice Dalle's Wikipedia bio. Man, that woman knows how to party.
"Race With The Devil" was awesome. The thin plot involving Satanic cult members is just an excuse for cool chases and stunts.
"Pieces": I remember that one. The scene where the poor woman was sawn in the ribs (pig's corpse) was brutal. The ending freeze frame was funny though. The director, who worked with Sergio Leone but evidently did not get much from the experience, is best known for his "Superman" and "E.T." rip-offs which were made fun of by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew.
Man... I haven't seen that one, but it reminded me that Elliot Gould was a man of infinite steez. A leading man of a type that will never be allowed in Hollywood again. I want more California Split, Long Goodbye type shit getting made.
Young ‘trode how is it you are only now seeing young Frankenstein?!
when I was in high school I was flipping through channels and this was on and I thought “oh cool a Frankenstein movie” not realizing it was a parody. It was right before the putting on the ritz scene. So he brings the monster out and let me tell you…. When they started doing putting on the ritz I was so baffled. Pre internet days. I eventually realized I was watching a comedy spoof. To this day I love this movie.
I know, right? Dad introduced me to "Blazing Saddles" and "History Of The World, Part 1", but not YF, shortly after "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" was released. I've never seen it on cable since and did not give it a second thought until Mel Brooks films were mentioned by a guy sitting next to me at Thanksgiving.
"How many times have I told you not to interrupt me when I'm WORKING?!?" "'Footsteps'! 'Footsteps'!" "There!!! Now I've touched it! Happy?!?"
Vidas Secas is pretty good, the book is amazing but probably untranslatable. Nelson Pereira dos Santos made some dope films, check out How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman if you can find it!
re: Mel Brooks, YF is great, but I don't recommend watching Spaceballs. It was one of my favorite films when I was a kid, but watching it again when I was in my 20s made reconsider a lot of things from my youth...
"Vidas Secas" is featured in "Cinema For Portuguese Conversation", a textbook for those such as myself who are learning the language. It's odd why some Brazilian movies are difficult to find affordably: for example, "Dona Flor And Her Two Husbands", which is also one of the "lessons" in that book. How is it that one of the country's highest grossing films which stars a well known actress in her breakout role isn't available in the US? Import DVDs command ~$100. Considering the amount of obscure films from around the globe which get the Criterion 4K Blu-Ray treatment or whatever, I don't understand it. "How Tasty" is on YouTube, although without subs. I'll check it out.
"Spaceballs": the only moments I remember from it is Rick Moranis' dickhead Vader helmet, "Pizza The Hut" and "may the Schwartz be with you!". I just learned that my brother is a "Star Wars" saga fanatic (I never knew!) so when I have the chance I'll ask about his take on it
Speaking of Frenchmen, I saw Robert Bresson's final film "L'Argent". Always inspect money you are given. I cannot stress this enough.
"The Soldier": this implausible, James Bond-esque Cold War era action yarn from the director who brought you "The Exterminator" is very entertaining.
I watched The Nun (1966) with Anna Karina and The Nun (2013) with Pauline Etienne. Basically, a young woman trying to escape a forced enrollment in a convent for life, being shuffled around between different locations and mothers superiors.
I liked both, and they had distinct approaches to the same story. The 60s one felt more about how the bureaucracy of the church deals with its bad actors, whereas the newer version focused more on the individual personalities of the various mothers who kept her in - from abuse to infatuation. It didn't get old at all watching the two versions despite knowing the plot after the first, so they must've felt distinct enough. I feel like Pauline Etienne is better in the role than Anna Karina was, and Karina is a legend. Etienne was that good.
Skrong recommend if you can imagine watching 17th century nun shit for two hours (or four if you do the double feature). Not that they're slow movies, just... cloistered, for lack of a better word.
I just saw "Over The Edge" for the first time. It's a late 70s take on 50s juvenile delinquent flicks. It has one of my favorite cinematic tropes: a car gets shot or crashes and it explodes! Same deal as "Streets Of Fire", which was fun too.
"Stalker": I had this in my Netflix queue for several years and it coincidentally showed up before the Russian shit hit the fan. Tarkovsky was a visionary.
"Cat People": I've seen the original and the soundtrack in the bins, but never the Paul Schrader version. Supposedly, he and his crew were high as a kite throughout.
"Jeanne Dielman": I have seen three hour plus epics and my attention span is strong, but this was torture.
Jeanne Dielman I couldn't hang with and I have certainly had the patience for some extremely deliberate movies. It's one of those movies where the rave reviews all treat it like medicine, not entertainment or fun, so you have to accept that as what it is. The slowness is necessary to what Akerman was achieving, but it also feels like achieving something unpleasant in the viewer (boredom? desperation?) isn't a great way to make your artistic statement. I dunno though, some people claim they can stay fascinated for the whole duration.
In contrast Stalker is visually so incredible that the Russian pace does not bother me.
Haven't had much time though I've got a lot in my queue. Hopefully an upcoming holiday will give me a chance to catch up.
But I did see "Love Meetings" - I don't know Pasolini's movies at all really, and this one didn't seem like strong meat like some of his stuff. He just goes around Italy in 1964 asking people in the street about their sexual mores and world views. It has funny moments but also makes some big points in an easy way - what being a conformist says about someone, for example: "the stubborn certainty of those who are insecure". Lots of scenes of men crowding the camera, no women to be seen. Divorce might be legal in Italy now but a lot of the accepted views that seem ancient in the movie have just translated to similarly nonsensical societal mores today.
I just saw "Over The Edge" for the first time. It's a late 70s take on 50s juvenile delinquent flicks. It has one of my favorite cinematic tropes: a car gets shot or crashes and it explodes! Same deal as "Streets Of Fire", which was fun too.
I just watched that too! You must have read the same "Kurt Cobain's ten fav movies" articles the other day? It WAS on his list, in any case. A fun watch. .
billbradleyYou want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,908 Posts
I saw Over The Edge recently also after getting this "Road Trips" Grateful Dead / Whataburger / Over The Edge shirt with the kid tripping balls at school leaning back at his desk on the back of the shirt.
I just watched that too! You must have read the same "Kurt Cobain's ten fav movies" articles the other day? It WAS on his list, in any case. A fun watch.
I didn't read that article until now, but I did learn about the Cobain connection in the IMDB trivia section beforehand. He liked "Paris, Texas" also, which was very well done.
A friend said that I must be the last person on the planet who has just watched "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and "Beverly Hills Cop" in their entirety. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, so I feel ashamed. While he was going on and on about Top Gun 2, I saved myself additional embarrassment by not mentioning that I've never seen the original either...
I also saw "Play Misty For Me" (Monterey Jazz Festival scene!)
And "Lucio Flavio" (finally found a boot copy with subs to help with my Portuguese. This video has none, though.)
My mother invited me to an event at a museum, founded by a friend of the family and dedicated to San Fernando Valley yesteryear ephemera, where former child actor Darby Hinton curated a PowerPoint presentation about turn of the century film locales. Interesting, but the highlight was when he showed us a trailer of this:
I forgot Fast Times almost as quickly as it took to watch, but I guess it was more of a previous generation's quotable - I never heard anybody say any of the "classic" lines from it till I started working with people slightly older than myself.
"Play Misty" is great for Clint playing what in real life would only ever be described as a turbonerd - a jazz radio DJ who reads spoken word/poetry over his shows? C'mon son - but is treated like the ultimate sex object. I know she's meant to be unhealthily obsessed but I'm sure ol' Clint thought this Carmel jazz guy was a sex god. He certainly played him that way. His house in this was cool as hell though.
Continuing the theme of 80s films I've never seen before: "Christine" and "Pet Sematary". I've never read any of King's novels, but I enjoyed these adaptations. Keith Gordon played it up very convincingly for his "transformation". I'm disappointed that the filming locations in my area no longer exist. Also, "Stripes" (so that's where "lighten up, Francis" comes from), "The World According to Garp" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
I forgot Fast Times almost as quickly as it took to watch, but I guess it was more of a previous generation's quotable - I never heard anybody say any of the "classic" lines from it till I started working with people slightly older than myself.
"Play Misty" is great for Clint playing what in real life would only ever be described as a turbonerd - a jazz radio DJ who reads spoken word/poetry over his shows? C'mon son - but is treated like the ultimate sex object. I know she's meant to be unhealthily obsessed but I'm sure ol' Clint thought this Carmel jazz guy was a sex god. He certainly played him that way. His house in this was cool as hell though.
Clint has always been a jazz nerd IRL. His son is a pretty good musician.
I wonder if Clint bullied his kid into a jazz career because he didn't get to have one then. Seems awfully coincidental, especially considering the raw numbers of like... young people entering jazz as a career. Plus, filmography aside, he seems like the kind of asshole who'd do that.
I was reminded again of another reason that I never really enjoyed a lot of 80s teen movies considered classics today - my first 80s teen movie was such a weird one.
I read a big article about Robert Altman's insane attempt at satirizing the teen movie genre, O.C. and Stiggs. I loved it as a teenager and it still holds up to me. When it was made it got shelved for three years and released for one week to DOGSHIT reviews at the time, but I think it was light years ahead of every other 80s comedy. It's almost nihilistic, and every character is somehow simultaneously three dimensional but also aimless and empty in the way that as a kid I was starting to see white middle class America as. Phony, I guess you'd say, if you were into Catcher in the Rye. But yeah, the movie took aim HARD at that culture and its main characters were chaotic balls of calculating rebellion against it. While the movie's probably a failure to most people, to me, it's like a rough proof of the potential that teen movies had to go beyond like, will she get a date or will he make the football team or whatever. It's a satirical hallucination of upper middle class suburbia like you can't make in Hollywood now, and barely could even then.
I dunno, even though it's dumb and weird, it's kinda better than all the 80s teen shit that made it into the canon.
Comments
I had a chance to see Possession here at one of the repertoire theaters years ago and regret missing the opportunity. Enjoy.
I was listening to a podcast where Eli Roth was talking about this movie called Peices that sounds pretty incredible.
I remember liking Bubba Ho Tep, and as a person he seems funny and cool but i can't get into his movies for some reason. Even the Ash Vs. Evil Dead show on Netflix I don't' think I made it past the first episode. Speaking of which - there was a show called Scream Queens in 2015 that is now on Hulu and it has Jamie Lee Curtis and the first episode of that had me DYING laughing. The rest of the season is OK, but that first episode is so crude and funny I highly recommend it.
Also I never noticed until it was pointed out to me, but the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pt 2 poster is a copy of the Breakfast Club poster. Google it. pretty funny.
"Race With The Devil" was awesome. The thin plot involving Satanic cult members is just an excuse for cool chases and stunts.
"Pieces": I remember that one. The scene where the poor woman was sawn in the ribs (pig's corpse) was brutal. The ending freeze frame was funny though. The director, who worked with Sergio Leone but evidently did not get much from the experience, is best known for his "Superman" and "E.T." rip-offs which were made fun of by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew.
I'm watching "World On A Wire" now.
I watched "Young Frankenstein" for the first time. "Putting On The Ritz"!
"Safety Last!"
"Vidas Secas"
when I was in high school I was flipping through channels and this was on and I thought “oh cool a Frankenstein movie” not realizing it was a parody. It was right before the putting on the ritz scene. So he brings the monster out and let me tell you…. When they started doing putting on the ritz I was so baffled. Pre internet days. I eventually realized I was watching a comedy spoof. To this day I love this movie.
"How many times have I told you not to interrupt me when I'm WORKING?!?"
"'Footsteps'! 'Footsteps'!"
"There!!! Now I've touched it! Happy?!?"
"Spaceballs": the only moments I remember from it is Rick Moranis' dickhead Vader helmet, "Pizza The Hut" and "may the Schwartz be with you!". I just learned that my brother is a "Star Wars" saga fanatic (I never knew!) so when I have the chance I'll ask about his take on it
Speaking of Frenchmen, I saw Robert Bresson's final film "L'Argent". Always inspect money you are given. I cannot stress this enough.
"The Soldier": this implausible, James Bond-esque Cold War era action yarn from the director who brought you "The Exterminator" is very entertaining.
I liked both, and they had distinct approaches to the same story. The 60s one felt more about how the bureaucracy of the church deals with its bad actors, whereas the newer version focused more on the individual personalities of the various mothers who kept her in - from abuse to infatuation. It didn't get old at all watching the two versions despite knowing the plot after the first, so they must've felt distinct enough. I feel like Pauline Etienne is better in the role than Anna Karina was, and Karina is a legend. Etienne was that good.
Skrong recommend if you can imagine watching 17th century nun shit for two hours (or four if you do the double feature). Not that they're slow movies, just... cloistered, for lack of a better word.
Harry Palmer binge : Ipcress > Funeral, right?
Then "The Billion Dollar Brain" > both
Brain is batshit but everything else is perfect about it.
I did try the actual Harry Palmer glasses myself - they are a Curry & Paxton frame called "Yvan" - ...
..but they didn't look right on me. I do love the C&P hinge pins though, so ended up with the "Hughes".
"Stalker": I had this in my Netflix queue for several years and it coincidentally showed up before the Russian shit hit the fan. Tarkovsky was a visionary.
"Cat People": I've seen the original and the soundtrack in the bins, but never the Paul Schrader version. Supposedly, he and his crew were high as a kite throughout.
"Jeanne Dielman": I have seen three hour plus epics and my attention span is strong, but this was torture.
In contrast Stalker is visually so incredible that the Russian pace does not bother me.
Haven't had much time though I've got a lot in my queue. Hopefully an upcoming holiday will give me a chance to catch up.
But I did see "Love Meetings" - I don't know Pasolini's movies at all really, and this one didn't seem like strong meat like some of his stuff. He just goes around Italy in 1964 asking people in the street about their sexual mores and world views. It has funny moments but also makes some big points in an easy way - what being a conformist says about someone, for example: "the stubborn certainty of those who are insecure". Lots of scenes of men crowding the camera, no women to be seen. Divorce might be legal in Italy now but a lot of the accepted views that seem ancient in the movie have just translated to similarly nonsensical societal mores today.
I just watched that too! You must have read the same "Kurt Cobain's ten fav movies" articles the other day? It WAS on his list, in any case. A fun watch.
.
I didn't read that article until now, but I did learn about the Cobain connection in the IMDB trivia section beforehand. He liked "Paris, Texas" also, which was very well done.
I also saw "Play Misty For Me" (Monterey Jazz Festival scene!)
And "Lucio Flavio" (finally found a boot copy with subs to help with my Portuguese. This video has none, though.)
My mother invited me to an event at a museum, founded by a friend of the family and dedicated to San Fernando Valley yesteryear ephemera, where former child actor Darby Hinton curated a PowerPoint presentation about turn of the century film locales. Interesting, but the highlight was when he showed us a trailer of this:
Full movie here...
"Play Misty" is great for Clint playing what in real life would only ever be described as a turbonerd - a jazz radio DJ who reads spoken word/poetry over his shows? C'mon son - but is treated like the ultimate sex object. I know she's meant to be unhealthily obsessed but I'm sure ol' Clint thought this Carmel jazz guy was a sex god. He certainly played him that way. His house in this was cool as hell though.
"You DICK!" and "NO DICE!!!" would irritate me too.
Also, "Stripes" (so that's where "lighten up, Francis" comes from), "The World According to Garp" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
Clint has always been a jazz nerd IRL. His son is a pretty good musician.
I was reminded again of another reason that I never really enjoyed a lot of 80s teen movies considered classics today - my first 80s teen movie was such a weird one.
I read a big article about Robert Altman's insane attempt at satirizing the teen movie genre, O.C. and Stiggs. I loved it as a teenager and it still holds up to me. When it was made it got shelved for three years and released for one week to DOGSHIT reviews at the time, but I think it was light years ahead of every other 80s comedy. It's almost nihilistic, and every character is somehow simultaneously three dimensional but also aimless and empty in the way that as a kid I was starting to see white middle class America as. Phony, I guess you'd say, if you were into Catcher in the Rye. But yeah, the movie took aim HARD at that culture and its main characters were chaotic balls of calculating rebellion against it. While the movie's probably a failure to most people, to me, it's like a rough proof of the potential that teen movies had to go beyond like, will she get a date or will he make the football team or whatever. It's a satirical hallucination of upper middle class suburbia like you can't make in Hollywood now, and barely could even then.
I dunno, even though it's dumb and weird, it's kinda better than all the 80s teen shit that made it into the canon.