Watched Dragged Across Concrete (2018) starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn on Amazon last night.
Third film from S. Craig Zahler, director of Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99
His style is an amalgamation of Tarantino, Coen Brothers and 70s/80s violent grindhouse.
I love all three of his movies. This ones a long slowburner ( almost 3 hours).
Like The Sisters Brothers DAC is another great film from 2018 that got zero promotion
Here's the storyline from IMDB:
The script centers on two policemen, one an old-timer (Gibson), the other his volatile younger partner (Vaughn), who find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics become the media's cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...321-story.htmlReview: Mötley Crüe biopic ‘The Dirt,’ as vapid and sexist as the band in its heyday
“Girls, girls, girls.” Mötley Crüe sings about them, sleeps with them, vomits on them, punches them in the face and can expect oral sex from anyone in a skirt in Netflix’s astoundingly tone deaf biopic “The Dirt.”
The film, which premieres Friday, is based on the group’s 2001 book, “The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band.” The book put the washed-up metal band back on the radar with lurid tales of bad-boy debauchery. In short, Mötley Crüe created a larger-than-life legacy on the backs — and bodies — of women.
Remarkably, the new Netflix movie takes the same pathetic approach. It’s as if the film arrived to the streaming service in a bubble, unaware that the culture has moved on and that Netflix is brimming with content written, directed and starring strong women. In this horribly timed release, the debasement of multiple women is supposed to be all in fun — and funny, because The Crüe is having a good time and it’s rock ’n’ roll, baby!
Directed by Jeff Tremaine and produced by Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen and Allen Kovac, the story is narrated predominantly by bassist Nikki Sixx, played by Douglas Booth. Guitarist Mick Mars (Iwan Rheon), drummer Tommy Lee (Machine Gun Kelly) and singer Vince Neil (Daniel Webber) have their moments as well. No matter who’s telling the story, though, it’s as vapid and misogynistic as the band members and the book they wrote with author Neil Strauss, who had already done a groupie-abusing autobiography for Marilyn Manson. Strauss went on to create his own book franchise on how to pick up women and now helms a podcast exploring the murder of a young woman. Sense a theme here?
The movie “The Dirt” starts with the band’s humble beginnings, when Sixx meets Lee in a diner that looks a lot like the old Sunset Strip coffee shop Ben Frank’s, and they hit it off. They find Mars through an ad in the paper, and Neil is a buddy of Lee’s. They want to go the “opposite direction of that punk minimalist thing,” so they play scrappy glam rock mixed with speedy punk rock.
Neil’s girlfriend sits in on a rehearsal, and when she yells over the noise that the music is too fast, the band tells him to “muzzle that.” Doesn’t she know metal is for guys?! The film doesn’t present displays like this in hindsight, with self-awareness or with context. Instead, their attitude is shown as an asset — part of the rebellious spirit and reckless abandon that made them such a great band!
Except Mötley Crüe was never all that great, and unlike other groups that are the subjects of biopics (N.W.A, Queen), it didn’t bend the arc of rock ’n’ roll history. The Crüe was more like a colorful speck of sparkly dust between great artists and movements. Its pop-rock hits weren’t meant to stand the test of time — they were meant to Party, Dude! — and to remain tethered to a decade when Spandex was an adjective, noun and fashion choice.
The band had everything it took to be has-beens and were well on their way to that status until the book, complete with a braggadocio’s memory of allegedly having sexual intercourse with an incapacitated woman, became a best-seller.
In the film, the band’s trajectory is short and meteoric: They play the Strip, are signed to a record label, become famous and do drugs, which means sometimes snorting coke off the backsides of groupies. They hang around with naked women, a lot, but it’s understandable because when a film’s this bad, window dressing is important.
Audiences certainly won’t be turning in for the dialogue. It’s as stiff as Mars’ hair: “Bottom line is,” says the band’s A&R man Tom Zutaut (“SNL’s” Pete Davidson), “don’t ever leave your girlfriend alone with Mötley Crüe, ever.” Lines like this are supposed to pass as humor.
Tender moments are just as brittle. “I was in love,” says Sixx. “She was the sweetest thing ever… her name was heroin.” Blarp.
And then there’s the generic tour montage that looks pulled straight from Shutterstock.com: “We did a billion shows in a billion cities around the world,” says one of the band’s narrators as images of Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty and the Sydney Opera House flip by like View-Master slides.
“The Dirt” doesn’t bother to recreate L.A.’s Sunset Strip circa 1980s here either, at least in any detail. The band members mention the Starwood, have meetings at the strip club The Body Shop, and we see a little of the Whiskey a Go Go and Gazzarri’s. Oh, and the girl under the table (yes, there’s more than one) does her work at the Rainbow. But we only know this because we hear them talk about these places or we see the names on a marquee.
By the time a Pearl Jam poster appears plastered on a wall somewhere in the production’s thin version of L.A., it’s sweet relief. The end of hair metal, and, presumably, the film, is near. We can return to 2019, where we can only hope “The Dirt” will be buried by its own glorification of a nominally talented band’s misogyny.
Some movies I've seen recently, going from best to worst:
Red Sparrow (2018). Stars Jennifer Lawrence. A spy movie updated for a post-cold war world. It scored 66% on IMDb. I wasn't interested in seeing it until I read what it says on RT: "Red Sparrow aims for smart, sexy spy thriller territory, but Jennifer Lawrence's committed performance isn't enough to compensate for thin characters and a convoluted story." I have learned that when I read something like the phrase "convoluted story", most of the time it's code for, "it was too complicated for me." If you like complicated spy stories, check this one out. I thought it was really good.
Free Solo (2018). A very good documentary about free solo climber Alex Honnold (free soloing is when a person climbs cliffs, building faces, etc, without the use of ropes or any other safety gear). The movie is about his desire to climb El Capitan, a 3000 ft cliff in Yosemite. I thought it was really interesting but also felt it was anticlimactic. Still worth watching, tho. It scored 99% & 94% on RT (a little too high) and 83% on IMDb (a little too low).
Triple Frontier (2019). Stars Oscar Isaac and Ben Affleck. It's about a group of ex-special forces banding together to rip off a Mexican drug kingpin. I watched it because I thought the story sounded interesting and because of Oscar Isaac, who was excellent in Ex Machina and Inside Llewen Davis. It scored 66% on IMDb. I thought it was definitely better than that, notwithstanding Affleck. HTF does this guy still get work as an actor?
The Mule (2018). One of my biggest gripes with movies is how a story can be good but the movie is ruined with a crappy ending. This movie is pretty much the opposite; the ending redeemed the movie. RT: 70%/69%. IMDb: 71%.
The Getaway (1972). I remember when this movie was released and not getting very many good reviews. I also remember some criticism of Ali MacGraw as not being a very good actress. That's probably why I've never taken an interest in seeing it. On RT it says, "The Getaway sees Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen, the kings of violence and cool, working at full throttle." It scored a 75% on IMDb and even higher on RT. Generous, imo. It was alright, I guess, but McQueen as the "king of cool, working at full throttle"? Apparently, whoever wrote this has never seen Bullitt, his definitive, cool anti-hero role.
The 15:17 to Paris (2018). HTF did this even get made? It's based on the true story of three Americans who thwarted a terrorist on a train in France in 2015. The problems: a paper thin story acted by the three actual guys. Directed by Clint Eastwood, I think it might have worked as a documentary with a dramatic recreation. I only watched it because I saw it also starred Judy Greer and Jenna Fischer. IMDb's score of 52% is generous. RT, otoh, gave it 23% & 38%. That's about right.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
I saw Red Sparrow, I think both at the theater and at home. I thought it was pretty good. Apparently unlike some reviewers, I did not have any trouble following the story. If it had been less complicated, it wouldn't have worked.
Looking forward to seeing Free Solo. I've been to Yosemite many times and always thought it was kinda nuts to climb the sheer face of El Capitan, but that's just because I never caught the rock climbing bug. It could be captivating to watch, especially a free climb.
I can't remember whether I have seen The Getaway. Given the year, I can't imagine how I could miss it. And you're right, McQueen's cool action movies all have to get in line behind Bullitt.
I saw 15:17 To Paris. I can't imagine why I sat through it. I expect more from Eastwood as a director.
I have not seen nor heard much of anything about The Mule or Triple Frontier. Don't understand your comment about Affleck. I haven't seen him in anything recently, and don't follow Hollywood gossip. Is he slipping as an actor? I mean, he was never the best, but he should be at least tolerable. Oscar Isaac is usually impressive in his roles. Is The Mule an Eastwood movie? I think I heard somewhere it was supposed to be decent. Will look into those two. Thanks for the reviews.
Meh. A critic doing what he's paid to do, I guess: be eye-rollingly clever, biting, and, well... critical. "Audiences won't be turning in for the dialogue." - Gee, you think? I always took Nikki Sixx for a wise and witty spinner of yarns! I wonder what this guy was expecting from this movie. I note he also doesn't point out that the price these guys paid for their lifestyle is shown in full, and it ain't pretty or glamorized.
Take it from a guy who listened to bands like Mötley Crüe in the later years of elementary school and raced home to watch their videos on TV (hoping his mom didn't ever notice them!) - this was a fun nostalgia trip. They were foolish, spoiled brats with too much money in the 1980s, yes. And I don't cheer for any kind of mistreatment of women, or support any kind of misbehaviour. But if these are the things that happened in life, then they happen in the movie too. Apologies to any critic who feels that this story should be altered and revised to suit a more enlightened modern crowd.
Coming up next... The Untouchables and Schindler's List: 2019 versions, where everyone was treated nicely, and with respect! (Okay, I know that's a stretch. )
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Yes, The Mule is an Eastwood flick. I forgot to mention it's based on a true story. He both stars in and directs. Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, Andy García, Taissa Farmiga, and his daughter, Alison Eastwood are also in it. The first time I saw his daughter was in Tightrope back in '84. She's like 46, now! I didn't even know it was her until I saw her name in the credits.
When I saw what was happening early in the movie I thought maybe we were going down the Gran Torino route but that didn't really pan out. Much of what I think was intended humor fell flat. The movie just felt kinda tepid. I think he said some time ago that he's retiring as an actor. I think he should just plain retire. Looking over this filmography as a director (I've seen just over 60% of them), going all the way back to Play Misty for Me (his best as director, imo), I count 9 I thought were good. Most were just okay and more than a few downright sucked. Since Million Dollar Baby, there's been maybe one of his movies I actually wanted to see (American Sniper, which I haven't gotten around to, yet). I only saw Gran Torino because my brother talked me into it.
Yeah, he's tolerable, I guess, but I think just about everything I've seen him in he'll do something that makes me think, "he needs to stick behind the camera."Don't understand your comment about Affleck. I haven't seen him in anything recently, and don't follow Hollywood gossip. Is he slipping as an actor? I mean, he was never the best, but he should be at least tolerable.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
Million Dollar Baby was excellent, but too depressing for me to want to own. Gran Torino was meh. I think if you skipped American Sniper, you wouldn't be missing much. A decent story, pushed way too far to the right, IMO. Play Misty For Me was a great movie. I did like Eastwood's two WWII Battle of Iwo Jima movies (both 2006): Flags Of Our Fathers (American perspective) and Letters From Iwo Jima (Japanese perspective). And, of course, I love his Westerns.Originally Posted by Hal...
No interest in seeing The Dirt. But, I'm listening to Girls, Girls, Girls right now because of this thread.
I liked Free Solo but thought Honnold was not a very engaging person, he came across as quite insular and I never really felt I got a sense of his motivation for what he did. OK, its a doc and he is who he is and I certainly did'nt expect him to perform or act up for the cameras...but he came across as a bit of a cold fish.
In the original Getaway I just thought McQueen was the epitome of cool. That for me is the movie that defines him. I love Bullitt to bits but car chase aside I think The Getaway is a better movie and McQueen gives a better performance.
And I know its not going to be a popular view, but as much as I love the original I do like the remake, stunt casting aside I think its a very well made film with some great action sequences and set pieces. I don't even begin to make comparisons between the two sets of leading actors...leave that aside and just go with the flow.
And what a cast...David Morse, Jennifer Tilly, Michael Madsen, James Woods, Richard Farnsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman...and some nice character turns from Burton Gilliam and Royce D Applegate.
I only clicked on it because I thought it was going to be something more interesting...
On the subject of sh*t remakes. For some reason , Anne Farris actually , I watched the remake of the Russell /Hawn Overboard. The new Overboard reverses the gender roles with a playboy falling OB resulting in amnesia. Phoned in by all involved, god did I waste my time.
Then there was Hotel Artimis. Looks like an adaptation from a graphic novel. Not to bad , could have been much better than it was. Cerainly had the cast to make it happen ,not a total waste of time.
On the subject of Motley Crue, I remember, at some point in the 80's, watching, I think it was Phil Donahue, and they had these anti-rock music crusaders on. One lady was talking about how she was so appalled by the Girls Girls Girls video that she got rid of the cable TV because she didn't want her son watching it.
The thing that sticks in my mind was my mom said. She said she'd rather have me watching the stuff at home, that way she could say, "Now you understand that's not the way you behave, right?" or whatever. She felt that if she got rid of the cable TV or got rid of MTV (I don't think that was an option back in those days, as it was part of the basic cable package, and they didn't have parental lock out options back in those days), I'd end up going to someone else's house and watching the stuff, and who knows if there's anyone there acting as the "angel on the shoulder" or whatever you want to say.
Ya know, it always cracks me when think about the dren I used to hear people dis rock music and the musicians who make it. The stereotype is that they're all drug addicts. Yeah, because Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley weren't addicted to every kind of upper, downer, and inbetweener imaginable. Also, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chet Atkins, Bill Evans, and many other jazz musicians never struggled with drugs either. That was something that was invented in with rock n roll, wasn't it?
Then there was the "backwards messages" that were supposedly luring kids to the devil or whatever. I never did understand why these backwards messages can't be heard when you play the records forwards. Anything you can hear when you play the record backwards, you can hear when you play it forwards. If there's a voice saying "Hail Satan" or whatever on the track backwards, you should hear a corresponding sound when you play the record forwards. And typically, you don't. You know why?! Because there is no message, you assholes!
You could probably read Biblical text into a tape recorder, play it backwards, and you'd have the same effect! You sit there long enough listening to this dren, and eventually your mind is going to hear things that aren't actually there. It's the same as looking at clouds in the sky, at some point, you're gonna say "Taht one looks like a tank" or "That one looks like Pete Townshend, frozen in mid jump, playing one of his custom built Telecaster copies, circa 1982" or whatever.
(Note: for a record where there is a backwards message, and you can hear it when the song is played normally, is Baby I'm A Star by Prince And The Revolution, you can hear it at the beginning of the song and again at the end)
Unfortunately, when I was 10 years old, I didn't know any of that kind of information, and certainly didn't get the opportunity to confront any of these idiots about it. Man, I would have loved to have been able to call up one of those talk shows that used to have these morons and ask one of the turkeys, point blank, where the damn messages on the Led Zeppelin or Van Halen records went when you played the songs normally.
I remember Iron Maiden deliberately put a nonsense backward message in one of their tunes just to fuck with those people.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
The Meg
Man this was terrible...but I watched the whole thing. Whatever that means
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
Actually, it wasn't during a song. It was actually just before the song Still Life on the Piece Of Mind album.
I remember a Guitar World article on Adrian Smith and Dave Murray at the time, which ended with the author talking about the message and then saying somethign to the effect that he was going to "take a chance to reveal it...(scream, thump)". That was the last sentence of the article, I guess a facetious suggestion that Eddie got to him before he had a chance to tell us what the message was.Originally Posted by Wikipedia
There was also the thing on the back cover of that album, where they had the deliberate misquote from the book of Revelations:
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more Death. Neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more brain; for the former things are passed away."
Where the word brain replaced the word "pain". Apparently, they were playing for more free publicity, but both of those items seemed to fly over the heads of the pigs (as Roger Waters would describe them) who had criticized Number Of The Beast.
I believe I read a few other people have done similar things. I read once that Paul Kantner deliberately placed backwards messages containing the words "devil's food cake" or something like that on a couple Jefferson Starship tracks after they were accused of such things. And I remember Kilroy Was Here came with a "warning" sticker that "This album contains hidden Satanic messages" or some such, which I remember being mentioned in a book written by one of those pigs, apparently unaware that the warning was facetious.
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
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