darkblue
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Days Won
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Posts posted by darkblue
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Regarding David Cronenberg - 'A History of Violence' (2005) is one helluva movie. Maria Bello and Viggo Mortensen give amazing performances with some notable support from Ed Harris and Wiliam Hurt.
Highly recommended movie. I've already watched it 5 times (counting twice with commentary) and I'm nowhere near tired of it yet.
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Not trying to be a wise guy, but there aren't a huge number from which we can select. (at least, that Americans know about)
Especially in this community - one that's so dedicated to old movies of the 30's, 40's and 50's.
Canadian movies didn't even really start until 1970.
There were some from before that date, but they were few, far between and unheralded. It was Shebib's seminal 'Goin' Down the Road' that proved a Canadian movie could garner an audience and make money, and the industry up here was truly born as a result - albeit to grow slowly. This does discount Quebec, of course. That province had had a regional industry for a decade already - but unless they were dubbed into English, they were strictly for an in-province audience back then. What did manage to get played in English speaking provinces - dubbed - were usually soft core sex-themed films of the 60's.
So, with the industry being virtually non-existent to both Americans and English speaking Canadians prior to 1970, it's absolutely true that there's little chance of most Americans being aware of these Canadian titles. 'Black Christmas' (1974) notwithstanding.
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Not bad, Holden.
Hope you don't mind me saying how much it reminds me of the Barenaked Ladies song style.
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Les Flintstones (1981) by Jean Jacques Annaud wasn't too bad either.
Of course most people would know this film as Quest For Fire.
'Quest for Fire' (1981) is brilliant! I've seen it a dozen times and it always touches me. Rae Dawn Chong is absolutely wonderful in this - as are the 3 male leads (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi). While there's not a single piece of modern language spoken anywhere in the movie, there is never any doubt as to what is being expressed in the languages that Anthony Burgess invented for the film.
Every human being on earth should watch this movie at least twice. Any adult who claims there's nothing relatable in it needs to seriously examine their soul.
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Ralph Thomas' 'Ticket to Heaven' (1981) is a very fine movie - probably the best feature film ever made using the 70's phenomenon of "moonie" type brainwashing cults as its base.
Truly standout performances are the norm in this remarkable film - Nick Mancuso, a teacher who is lured into the cult after his longtime girlfriend breaks up with him. Mancuso has never been able to do anything better than he did with this role; Saul Rubinek as his best friend who learns that something is very wrong when he receives an interrupted phone call; Meg Foster as a thoroughly chilling leader in the cult; Guy Boyd as a delightfully "immune" searcher, looking for his sister; R.H. Thomson as a bracing, no-nonsense de-programmer; Robert Joy as a thoroughly brainwashed (and abusive) member; and Kim Cattrall is amazing (the energy!) as the manipulative bait that draws guys in.
Speaking of Cattrall, I also like Bob Clark's 'Porky's' (1982) very much. Helluva entertaining movie. I can just hear Kim howling now.
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Vic Morrow alert!
He seems to have a couple of rabid fans within this community, so.....
'Treasure of Matecumbe' is scheduled on Thursday.
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Don Shebib's 'Goin' Down the Road' (1970).
Simple and perfect in its depiction of two east coasters coming to The Big Smoke in the late 60's. A movie about cultural shock and survival. As realistic a movie as I'd ever seen back in 1970.
Also, Don Shebib's 'Rip Off' (1971).
A funny and touching movie about a group of high school buddies, one of whom (Don Scardino) inherits a piece of land way up north from his grandfather. He and his friends, who are not popular kids, get the idea that they should set up a "commune" on the property. When word gets around the high school about it, the kid with the land is suddenly considered very cool. The four friends take a road trip to check out the property and ready it for the urban hippie kids they envision will be coming to it. The movie also stars a young actor by the name of Peter Gross, who became a celebrity in Toronto many years later when he became a tv reporter/anchor on the CITY-TV station.
Again, realism is just spot on. Shebib's movies have a genuineness to them. I feel I've lived and observed in real life what is depicted on the screen.
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This '80s song seems to have everything going against it. Unknown singer, lyrics about kids, but it's catchy as h**l, and really well-done.
Good one, DGF.
What I've been finding with so much of today's "hits" and popular acts is such a lack of lyrics. Seems so much of the time the writer comes up with one line - maybe two - and it's just repeated over and over for 4 and a half minutes.
Melodies have been pretty much used up now as well, so unless you're into watching chicks show all of their legs, there's really very little happening musically anymore. Yet, apparently it sells to the young.
I really miss the days when songwriters had some gift for actually writing a full song.
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How about The Last Seduction (1994) a Neo Noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, and features Linda Fiorenrino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman. Fiorentino's performance generated talk of an Oscar nomination, but she was ineligible because the film was shown on HBO before it was released to theatres. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films.
I don't consider movies made for cable - like HBO - to be the same as movies made for tv.
Movies made for tv were from approx 1964-1989. Then, for all intents and purposes, the networks discontinued producing "movies" as they found they were at too great a content disadvantage against premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. Those premium producers, in addition to having far greater freedom of content, could create movies that did not have to be edited with commercial breaks in mind and are therefore legitimate movies - no different than theatrically run movies. I consider made for tv movies legitimate as well, but the commercial interruption consideration does make them uniquely identifiable.
The puritanical standards that ruled the airwaves for so long have turned out to be one of the primary causes of network contraction.
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Oh, what the hell. Gotta add this one - the very first recording of Webb's 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix'.
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Oh, man - when I get goin' on Johnny Rivers, it's hard to stop. Here's one more Webb song from Rivers' 'Rewind'. This one became a hit single later on for Al Wilson. Webb owes enormous gratitude to Johnny Rivers for showcasing all this stuff.
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Here's another Webb song that Johnny placed on his 'Rewind' album. The group 'The
Fifth Dimension' took it the following year and had a hit single with it. -
Jimmy Webb is a songwriter who meant quite a lot to me in the mid to late 60's. It was rock star Johnny Rivers who discovered him. Webb had written a bittersweet ballad called 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' in 1964 and it was Rivers who finally recorded it two years later - the first artist to record a Webb song - and placed it on his 1966 album 'Changes'. Rivers' rendition of the song became a modest hit, but it was Glen Campbell's version that hit biggest some 18 months later.
Webb was just what Rivers was looking for in '66, as Rivers was making a big change from his previous roots rock style to more of a ballad singer. He liked Webb's unrecorded catalogue of songs so much, he devoted nearly an entire album to them - the album was called 'Rewind' in early 1967.
Here's my own particular favorite Webb song from that album. Really spoke to the lovesick 16 year old me.
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When I lived in Montana a favored expression was he, she, or it, went T I T S up" meaning it broke or died.
I've used that expression numerous times over the decades. Used it about a month ago.
I believe it came about as an alternative to "belly up" - which meant being dead.
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All connotations aside, I really do miss seeing women in sun dresses that wear straw hats. I am not talking about on the beaches, but just around town as a part of a leisure attire . Haven't seen that in maybe 30 years or so. Oh well.
I still see sun dresses (yum). No straw hats, though.
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There's a mini TV series (maybe around 10 episodes by now) called "Bitchin' Rides" on the Velocity network. It is a younger group of guys working at a custom auto shop that go out of their way to restore or build unique cars/vehicles with vintage appeal.
In a Simpsons Halloween episode in which the haunted house the family is living in envelops itself out of existence, Homer goes "wow" and Bart exclaims "bitchin'" just as it finishes happening.
Great to see the expression being kept alive.
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So, in a typical conversation, it was t I ts this, and **** that........Hey, that woman has t i ts t I ts.
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Maybe I haven't been paying attention but, I have always been under the impression whatever films were presented as "Essentials" were selected by the guest host - with guidance from Robert Osborne, et al. I don't know where I got that impression, I don't recall having it explained at any point.I mention this because of Sally Field's objection to last evening's presentation of The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Her dislike of this movie - more specifically, Hurd Hatfield's performance - surprised me. I was not expecting that reaction.Negative comments from the hosts are ok - it's just that I was expecting praise as I thought these films were selected because the hosts deemed them "essential" and, therefore, appealing. I'm not saying anything is wrong, I was just a bit confused..
Someone must think that thing is an "essential".
Just not Sally, I guess.
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Thanks to the medical staff for diagnosing my posts, I hope the patient is resting comfortably.
I'm not sure what this means.
Were some of your posts altered? Removed?
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AKK! When I first brought it up I didn't MEAN it's use as slang for female breasts. There was a time the word WAS used the same way as "cool", or "neat". A positive endorsement. "top of the line!" or "great!" ie; "Hey, man...how do you like the NEW WHEELS on my car?" "WOW, man! Those wheels are T I T S!"
Got it?
Never heard it until Eric Cartman started saying "that's totally t!ts" in an episode of South Park - to which Stan, Kyle and Kenny didn't have a clue.
Are you sure you're not thinking about that South Park episode and confusing it with something in real life?
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I dunno, I used to hear "that's white of you" thrown about all the time on the DC playgrounds of the 50's and early 60's, in voices dripping with very un-ironical sarcasm, and I guarantee you it didn't have anything to do with Virgin brides or Mr. Clean.
So you've somehow missed all those "white means good" (white knight, virgin white, hospital white, etc.) allusions scattered throughout our entire human history, have you?
When people say "that's mighty white of you" in old movies (or new), they're saying "that's mighty good of you" - although they may be saying it sincerely or sarcastically, depending on the intent.
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One phrase I hear over and over made by people in mainly 30's films, in reaction to a good favor is "That's awfully white of you!". And it is said by absolutely all kinds of people in all kinds of situations! Hearing that one always makes me jump in shock, even knowing I am viewing something 80 years old.
"White" is "good". Has always had that association, as far as I can tell.
Angels and saints are always surrounded by white light. Virgin brides dress in white. First-communion girls dress in white. Good cowboys wear white hats. Nothing cleans better than a white tornado. The Man from Glad dresses in white - and so does Mr. Clean. You don't get much gooder than those two.
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Yes, if you can watch the whole movie.
A certain herb helps one to enjoy that trip quite a bit more than does an herbless viewing.
Watching Jane peel off that spacesuit - I wanted to marry her in 1968. Watching it again this week, I want to marry her again.
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The theatre I worked at in 1968 had no problem showing it to the kids at the Saturday matinee showing.
It's only a little pink nip for heaven's sake, and they are on screen very briefly.
But, oh my, what a babe!! Seeing her in 'Barbarella' and 'Spirits of the Dead' in the same year cemented Jane in my mind as one of cinema's hottest women ever.
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Canadian Film Ideas for TCM Programming 2016
in General Discussions
Posted
Cold Comfort (1989).
A strange one. Almost hypnotic - you can't stop watching.
Maury Chaykin is a loser with a teenage daughter living out on the frozen plains, miles from town where he's constantly getting in trouble with local law for taking tow jobs without a license. A traveler, played by handsome Paul Gross (Due South), breaks down close to the house and becomes a kind of prisoner of Chaykin - who is at first seemingly harmless and helpful, but who turns out to be one very weird and scary dude.
Like I said, it's a strange one - but I watched it a few times when it was on pay-tv - and I'd give anything to get a copy of it now. Well, not anything - but you know what I mean.