Movies - Take Two. Action!

[hippypants]

It's been quite a while ago since I read the book, but from what I remember it was less unclear than the movie. But the "killing" of her daughter was indeed more an accident - trying to save her from suffocating.
But the real spooky stuff came from the house and its past, which seemed to play tricks with its current inhabitants...

Thanks. I'll have to track down the book as there were several questions I had.

[JKL2000]

Just watched It Follows based on the comments here. Mmmm... not sure. It held my interest, but not sure there was really a payoff. And no explanation. But I usually expect more from this kind of movie than there is.

[moecurlythanu]

^ I can't enthuse about it either, Jed, and I'm a Horror fan.

[GuitarGeek]

Not that I actually think any of you guys actually give a frell, but...

TCM is doing a Disney marathon tonight. Interspersed with a few cartoons, the pictures they're showing include Bedknobs And Broomsticks (haven't seen that one in ages), Flight Of The Navigator (I'm skipping that one, I remember it being kinda lame), The Black Hole (Disney's first PG rated feature ever, my introduction to both Ernie Borgnine and Tony Perkins, also one of the most scientifically inaccurate sci-fi movies ever), and The Cat From Outer Space (which my entire family saw in a movie theater at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1978).

Yeah, I know you're thinking, none of those sound like very good pictures, but some of them are slightly on the trippy side, and they're all fun to watch (well, except maybe Flight Of The Navigator). The action/fun/whatever starts at 8:00pm Eastern. As always, if you are captured, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of you and your mission. This message will self destruct in 10 seconds. (Cue the Lalo Shifrin music).

[mozo-pg]

The Post Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Portrayal of 1971 Washington Post release of the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War. Meticulous recreated this era and very layered acting from Meryl and Tom. Highly rated!

[Klonk]

Just watched It Follows based on the comments here. Mmmm... not sure. It held my interest, but not sure there was really a payoff. And no explanation. But I usually expect more from this kind of movie than there is.

A demonic STD? What's not to love?! I loved it mostly for the 80's vibe and it's very Halloween vibe. Yeah, lacks in story, but I found the idea unsettling as hell and perfect for this time of year.

[dropforge]

Just watched It Follows based on the comments here. Mmmm... not sure. It held my interest, but not sure there was really a payoff. And no explanation. But I usually expect more from this kind of movie than there is.

No explanation? You mean you're not certain what happened in the last 10 minutes?

[dropforge]

A demonic STD? What's not to love?! I loved it mostly for the 80's vibe and it's very Halloween vibe. Yeah, lacks in story, but I found the idea unsettling as hell and perfect for this time of year.

Simple story, yes, but there was no reason to bog it down, not with such a great gimmick.

[interbellum]

The Post Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Portrayal of 1971 Washington Post release of the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War. Meticulous recreated this era and very layered acting from Meryl and Tom. Highly rated!

It was great how Spielberg used the opening-sequence of "All The President's Men" for the closing section of "The Post".

[JKL2000]

No explanation? You mean you're not certain what happened in the last 10 minutes?

No, I mean there's no explanation as to what this entity is. I know it's a stand-in for an STD, but I'm always a little let down by movies that just have some kind of mysterious "entity" without some kind of rationale for it. I know it's hard to come up with one, but it's been done. It's a YMMV kind of thing, I know.

[JKL2000]

Simple story, yes, but there was no reason to bog it down, not with such a great gimmick.

I guess I didn't find the gimmick so great or original. Not that the movie didn't still generate some suspense. Another thing, surrounding the pool with plugged in appliances but never having that really put to use was disappointing. I was just talking with my son about the movie, and he said he thought it had a bit of a Scooby Doo quality. I thought that was funny.

[nosebone]

The movie was the nightmare everybody has had where your being stalked by something sinister.
Did you notice the anachronisms in every scene?
The cars, TV set, seashell reader, ?
It was a dream , a bad one , that you can’t get out of

[Klonk]

The movie was the nightmare everybody has had where your being stalked by something sinister.
Did you notice the anachronisms in every scene?
The cars, TV set, seashell reader, ?
It was a dream , a bad one , that you can’t get out of

Preach it brother nosebone!

[Klonk]

I think I'm going to go with The Void tonight. I'm pretty sure I'll like this one...

[dropforge]

I guess I didn't find the gimmick so great or original. Not that the movie didn't still generate some suspense. Another thing, surrounding the pool with plugged in appliances but never having that really put to use was disappointing. I was just talking with my son about the movie, and he said he thought it had a bit of a Scooby Doo quality. I thought that was funny.

"It" anticipated their trap. That's what happened. And that the origin of "It" was an ambiguous one served the story. Had they uncovered some silly trope, e.g. a shrine buried in the beach that told of It being hatched from a lamp stolen by a pirate 300 years earlier would have rendered the entire thing a joke.

The dude's go-for-broke strategy of sleeping with a prostitute to push It's ascendancy further out was another win.

[dropforge]

The movie was the nightmare everybody has had where your being stalked by something sinister.
Did you notice the anachronisms in every scene?
The cars, TV set, seashell reader, ?
It was a dream , a bad one , that you can’t get out of

The time setting was ambiguous thanks to props like the seashell reader, but it wasn't a dream.

[nosebone]

It played like a dream.
And if you suspend disbelief with that in mind , the film works really well
Imo

[mozo-pg]

It was great how Spielberg used the opening-sequence of "All The President's Men" for the closing section of "The Post".

Yeah, I thought it was pretty effective. A really gripping drama from beginning to end.

[Hal...]

The Post Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Portrayal of 1971 Washington Post release of the Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War. Meticulous recreated this era and very layered acting from Meryl and Tom. Highly rated!

I thought it was good but not nearly as much as you did.

But if you liked that one you should check out Spotlight, with Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Rachel McAdams. I saw it after The Post and expected more of the same. After I finished watching it I wanted to watch it again. I rarely have that experience. In fact, I liked it better than All the President's Men. When I looked it up on Wikipedia, I discovered it won the Oscar for best picture.

[NogbadTheBad]

Spotlight is the much better film of the two.

[GuitarGeek]

Following on from my previous post yesterday, I watched The Black Hole this morning. Good picture. I've seen it several times before, so I knew what to expect. Interestingly, this particular broadcast, TCM chose to forgo the orchestral fanfare that opened the theatrical cut of the film. Back in the day, sometimes movies would have a fanfare that play over a blank screen before the picture proper started. The Black Hole was reportedly the last such picture to have a fanfare, which is usually left out when the movie is shown on TV, or I believe, on at least some of the home video releases. But the last one or two times TCM showed The Black Hole, they had included it, so it was curious they left it out this time.

As I said, it's one more scientifically inaccurate sci-fi films made, with flaming meteorites attacking a ship in space, and humans being exposed to open space several with no ill effects. But it's a highly enjoyable film. Great special effects, awesome musical score (though dammit, that fanfare is one of the best parts of the score, though the motifs mostly appear in various places in the film. And a great cast, with Anthony Perkins, Ernie Borgnine, Yvette Mimeux, Robert Forester, Maximilian Schell, Joseph Bottoms, and an uncredited Roddy MacDowell and Slim Pickins doing the voices of the two levitating robots. But what was the deal with that final sequence?!

[Eliason]

I really liked The Black Hole too. I've seen it ages ago. It's not considered a great sci-fi movie by the large audiences though, right?

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I saw The Black Hole once. Not only scientifically atrocious, but plot holes you could float an aircraft carrier through without touching either side. No thanks.

[mozo-pg]

I thought it was good but not nearly as much as you did.

But if you liked that one you should check out Spotlight, with Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Rachel McAdams. I saw it after The Post and expected more of the same. After I finished watching it I wanted to watch it again. I rarely have that experience. In fact, I liked it better than All the President's Men. When I looked it up on Wikipedia, I discovered it won the Oscar for best picture.

I just really liked the recreation of 1971 and thought Streep's performance was stellar.

Spotlight is the much better film of the two.

I thought Spotlight was an excellent film. Hard to pick between the two for me.

[Painter]

Following on from my previous post yesterday, I watched The Black Hole this morning. Good picture. I've seen it several times before, so I knew what to expect. Interestingly, this particular broadcast, TCM chose to forgo the orchestral fanfare that opened the theatrical cut of the film. Back in the day, sometimes movies would have a fanfare that play over a blank screen before the picture proper started. The Black Hole was reportedly the last such picture to have a fanfare, which is usually left out when the movie is shown on TV, or I believe, on at least some of the home video releases. But the last one or two times TCM showed The Black Hole, they had included it, so it was curious they left it out this time.

As I said, it's one more scientifically inaccurate sci-fi films made, with flaming meteorites attacking a ship in space, and humans being exposed to open space several with no ill effects. But it's a highly enjoyable film. Great special effects, awesome musical score (though dammit, that fanfare is one of the best parts of the score, though the motifs mostly appear in various places in the film. And a great cast, with Anthony Perkins, Ernie Borgnine, Yvette Mimeux, Robert Forester, Maximilian Schell, Joseph Bottoms, and an uncredited Roddy MacDowell and Slim Pickins doing the voices of the two levitating robots. But what was the deal with that final sequence?!

IMO, the only thing I like about Black Hole is the design of the Cygnus. A one-of-a-kind departure from the greeble-encrusted ships of that era (which I do love). The only version ofBlack Hole that I watch is a special-effects-only cut that is on Youtube. It cuts out all that pesky dialog, plot, characterization crap and gets right to the only reason I saw the film in the theaters in the first place: that ship and those VFX.

BTW, there are also special-effects-only cuts of that first Star Trek movie (again a vast improvement), Close Encounters, and probably some other movies like Blade Runner and the original Star Wars films

---
edited to add: perhaps you already know this (of course you do... I'm talking to GuitarGeek) but the reason why the actors are out in the vacuum of space with no suits is that the suits that the costume department designed for them were apparently so uncomfortable that the actors refused to wear them in a show of defiance.