HoldenIsHere Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 The 31 Days of Oscar movie I've been most looking forward to is scheduled to air on Friday February 27. That movie is Sidney Lumet's RUNNING ON EMPTY starring Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch and the late River Phoenix (who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role even though he has more screen time than any other actor in the movie). The movie must be a TCM premiere. There was no TCM article for it when it first appeared on the online schedule months ago. The article that's now posted mentions events as recent as 2014. I was a huge River Phoenix fan as a kid, and I must have watched the VHS copy of this movie a gazillion times (well, maybe not a gazillion but a lot). It's been almost 20 years since I've watched it so I'm interested to see what my reaction will be seeing it now in 2015. River Phoenix was one of those actors who seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve in his screen performances. This movie and STAND BY ME, DOGFIGHT and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO are the best examples of this emotional honesty but it shines through even in formulaic movies like LITTLE NIKITA. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mockingbird66 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I am looking forward to seeing this movie too. The only River Phoenix movie I saw was Stand By Me. I always wondered where he would be today, what type of roles he would have chosen. I read his biography and he definitely had an unusual upbringing. Living in poverty, he and his sister Rain sang on street corners for money to help support the family in Venezuela. He came so far and did so well. It's such a shame his life was so short. If you didn't read his biography at Wikipedia, it's very interesting. Thanks for the reminder for this movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I too remember liking this movie a lot when I saw it years ago and when it was first shown on HBO and right after its run in theaters was over. And I too remember thinking that the young River Phoenix held his own with some excellent already established older actors. However, the one scene I best remember finding the most powerful in this film was the one where Christine Lahti's fugitive character meets her estranged father played by Steven Hill in a restaurant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Yeah, I kinda liked it, too. And I thought River's performance in MOSQUITO COAST was a bit better..but not by much! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'm looking forward to seeing it also. I saw it when it came out and once or twice on TV (think TCM has shown it before) Such a waste about River Phoenix. Love the underappreciated Christine Lahti too (so great in Housekeeping and other films)........ Hoping to catch The Immigrants running before it too (which I've never seen all the way through for some reason)....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I too remember liking this movie a lot when I saw it years ago and when it was first shown on HBO and right after its run in theaters was over. And I too remember thinking that the young River Phoenix held his own with some excellent already established older actors. However, the one scene I best remember finding the most powerful in this film was the one where Christine Lahti's fugitive character meets her estranged father played by Steven Hill in a restaurant. I also loved this movie when I saw it at the movies back in the day. Great.cast, and I agree the scene with Lahti and her father is outstanding, so powerful and gut wrenching. Hill was amazing! Holden, thanks for the heads up....I haven't seen that in ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 However, the one scene I best remember finding the most powerful in this film was the one where Christine Lahti's fugitive character meets her estranged father played by Steven Hill in a restaurant. That is indeed a very powerful and memorable scene, Dargo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 This movie certainly holds up almost 20 years since the last time I saw it. The first moments of intimacy between River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton were especially poignant this time.They really captured those feelings of two sexually inexperienced people (River Phoenix's character was a virgin; I don't think the extent Martha Plimpton's character's prior experience was revealed) wanting a physical connection with each other.The two actors were a couple in real life at one point. I had forgotten about the wonderful scene where River Phoenix pretends to be a pizza delivery person to get as glimpse of his grandmother in New York City or the scene where Judd Hirsch in a melancholy moment gets drunk and angrily recites deails of his real identity (but only in the company of his family). I'd also forgotten how wonderful the actor who played River Phoenix's younger brother was. And what a blast from the past to see the Chief from the 1990s TV series WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? in a small role. Seeing the movie now as an adult I really noticed Chritine Lahti's feeling of being trapped in her situation but being strong more for the sake of her children than for the sake of her husband. It was disappointing that the version shown on TCM had all the expletives bleeped, by way of removing the audio when they were spoken. The first instance occurred in the very first scene where River Phoenix is playing baseball in Florida (before his family has to hastily re-locate to New Jersey) and he apparently scratches his glasses. He says "Ah sh*t" but in the version shown on TCM we hear "Ah" followed by a moment with no audio. Minutes later when his buddy tells him he made the team River Phoenix replies "No [audio removed]" instead of "No sh*t." This happened throughout the movie. In one scene Christine Lahti says " those a-s-s [audio removed]" instead "those a-s-s holes." (Apparently "a-s-s" was okay but not "a-s-s holes.") At the end of the movie it was noted that the version was for Domestic Pay Cable, but TCM has aired movies before with that designation that had much "saltier" language which was not bleeped. I'm glad TCM aired the movie, but the audio dips were quite annoying. At least they didn't fill in the dropped audio with words like "shucks" or "shoot" as they used to do with some movies airing on basic cable. Unfortunately the DVD version of the movie (released in the 1990s) is in Full Screen format, and I hate widescreen movies in pan-and-scan Full Screen. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 This movie certainly holds up almost 20 years since the last time I saw it. The first moments of intimacy between River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton were especially poignant this time.They really captured those feelings of two sexually inexperienced people (River Phoenix's character was a virgin; I don't think the extent Martha Plimpton's character's prior experience was revealed) wanting a physical connection with each other.The two actors were a couple in real life at one point. I had forgotten about the wonderful scene where River Phoenix pretends to be a pizza delivery person to get as glimpse of his grandmother in New York City or the scene where Judd Hirsch in a melancholy moment gets drunk and angrily recites deails of his real identity (but only in the company of his family). I'd also forgotten how wonderful the actor who played River Phoenix's younger brother was. And what a blast from the past to see the Chief from the 1990s TV series WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? in a small role. Seeing the movie now as an adult I really noticed Chritine Lahti's feeling of being trapped in her situation but being strong more for the sake of her children than for the sake of her husband. It was disappointing that the version shown on TCM had all the expletives bleeped, by way of removing the audio when they were spoken. The first instance occurred in the very first scene where River Phoenix is playing baseball in Florida (before his family has to hastily re-locate to New Jersey) and he apparently scratches his glasses. He says "Ah sh*t" but in the version shown on TCM we hear "Ah" followed by a moment with no audio. Minutes later when his buddy tells him he made the team River Phoenix replies "No [audio removed]" instead of "No sh*t." This happened throughout the movie. In one scene Christine Lahti says " those a-s-s [audio removed]" instead "those a-s-s holes." (Apparently "a-s-s" was okay but not "a-s-s holes.") At the end of the movie it was noted that the version was for Domestic Pay Cable, but TCM has aired movies before with that designation that had much "saltier" language which was not bleeped. I'm glad TCM aired the movie, but the audio dips were quite annoying. At least they didn't fill in the dropped audio with words like "shucks" or "shoot" as they used to do with some movies airing on basic cable. Unfortunately the DVD version of the movie (released in the 1990s) is in Full Screen format, and I hate widescreen movies in pan-and-scan Full Screen. Yes, it was sad that TCM showed this censored version. The S word is now fairly common on cable TV. I assume an uncensored version was available so this looks like another case of TCM programmers being lazy and \ or clueless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Yes, it was sad that TCM showed this censored version. The S word is now fairly common on cable TV. I assume an uncensored version was available so this looks like another case of TCM programmers being lazy and \ or clueless. I would think Domestic Pay Cable (as the the version that aired on TCM was designated as) would refer to versions meant to be aired on pay channels like HBO or Showtime. I don't think HBO has ever shown movies with audio drop outs even during the daytime hours (although I might be wrong). The version that used to air on HBO back in the day would likely be in a Full Frame (pan-and-scan) format so I would not like that either. The DVD release from the late 1990s was in Full Frame. I wonder if there is a version of this movie in the correct aspect ratio with no audio drops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 Here's an interview with River Phoenix from the time that RUNNING ON EMPTY was released: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWZ4E4zy2SE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 This movie certainly holds up almost 20 years since the last time I saw it. The first moments of intimacy between River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton were especially poignant this time.They really captured those feelings of two sexually inexperienced people (River Phoenix's character was a virgin; I don't think the extent Martha Plimpton's character's prior experience was revealed) wanting a physical connection with each other.The two actors were a couple in real life at one point. I had forgotten about the wonderful scene where River Phoenix pretends to be a pizza delivery person to get as glimpse of his grandmother in New York City or the scene where Judd Hirsch in a melancholy moment gets drunk and angrily recites deails of his real identity (but only in the company of his family). I'd also forgotten how wonderful the actor who played River Phoenix's younger brother was. And what a blast from the past to see the Chief from the 1990s TV series WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? in a small role. Seeing the movie now as an adult I really noticed Chritine Lahti's feeling of being trapped in her situation but being strong more for the sake of her children than for the sake of her husband. It was disappointing that the version shown on TCM had all the expletives bleeped, by way of removing the audio when they were spoken. The first instance occurred in the very first scene where River Phoenix is playing baseball in Florida (before his family has to hastily re-locate to New Jersey) and he apparently scratches his glasses. He says "Ah sh*t" but in the version shown on TCM we hear "Ah" followed by a moment with no audio. Minutes later when his buddy tells him he made the team River Phoenix replies "No [audio removed]" instead of "No sh*t." This happened throughout the movie. In one scene Christine Lahti says " those a-s-s [audio removed]" instead "those a-s-s holes." (Apparently "a-s-s" was okay but not "a-s-s holes.") At the end of the movie it was noted that the version was for Domestic Pay Cable, but TCM has aired movies before with that designation that had much "saltier" language which was not bleeped. I'm glad TCM aired the movie, but the audio dips were quite annoying. At least they didn't fill in the dropped audio with words like "shucks" or "shoot" as they used to do with some movies airing on basic cable. Unfortunately the DVD version of the movie (released in the 1990s) is in Full Screen format, and I hate widescreen movies in pan-and-scan Full Screen. Yes. that was VERY annoying. Must've been and edited for tv version......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 TCM is airing RUNNING ON EMPTY tomorrow (September 14) as part of the tribute to Sidney Lumet. I'm hoping that the version shown will not be one that aired during the most recent 31 Days of Oscar, where there were audio drops when the expletives were spoken. We'll know fairly soon into the movie because the first instance occurs during the first scene where River Phoenix is playing baseball. In the scene he apparently scratches his glasses and says "Ah sh*t." In the version shown on TCM in February we heard "Ah" followed by a moment with no audio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 RUNNING ON EMPTY will be starting soon on TCM so we'll find out if the version aired this time will not include audio drops when the expletives are spoken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 RUNNING ON EMPTY will be starting soon on TCM so we'll find out if the version aired this time will not include audio drops when the expletives are spoken. So were they? It was on too late for me to watch again......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmovieviewer Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I heard the s-word in the first few minutes so I think they showed the unmodified version this time. Perhaps it depends on the time of day that the movie is shown? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I heard the s-word in the first few minutes so I think they showed the unmodified version this time. Perhaps it depends on the time of day that the movie is shown? LOL. That figures. (when I didnt watch it)........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 So were they? It was on too late for me to watch again......... There were no audio drops!!!!! I figured we were okay after the first "sh*t" in the first scene but I watched the entire movie. I really love this movie! Judd Hirsch actually has the following line in the movie: "G*d*** f***ing sh**!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 There were no audio drops!!!!! I figured we were okay after the first "sh*t" in the first scene but I watched the entire movie. I really love this movie! Judd Hirsch actually has the following line in the movie: "G*d*** f***ing sh**!" LMREO! Sorry I missed it. Would figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (...a short comment to follow from Moderator1...) "I'm shocked that you two would prefer to hear such filth!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 LOL. Careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Here's the trailer for RUNNING ON EMPTY: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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