The Movie Thread

[Gazoo]

HBO is showing Myra Breckenridge, another infamous film I'd never seen. And it is indeed quite awful. Rex Reed (!), Raquel Welch, very young Farrah Fawcett and Tom Selleck -- oh my stars. And an 80-something Mae West, asking some young stud how tall he is. He says: "6 feet 7 inches". Mae replies: "Well, never mind the six feet, and let's talk about the seven inches." Zing!  Jaw-droppingly bad.

ETA: OMFG, Mae West doing "Hard To Handle" surrounded by dancing black guys in tuxedos!

I have seen it; it made my head spin.  Wonder what it would make a good double feature with - Valley of the Dolls?

[RGMike]

HBO is showing Myra Breckenridge, another infamous film I'd never seen. And it is indeed quite awful. Rex Reed (!), Raquel Welch, very young Farrah Fawcett and Tom Selleck -- oh my stars. And an 80-something Mae West, asking some young stud how tall he is. He says: "6 feet 7 inches". Mae replies: "Well, never mind the six feet, and let's talk about the seven inches." Zing!  Jaw-droppingly bad.

ETA: OMFG, Mae West doing "Hard To Handle" surrounded by dancing black guys in tuxedos!

I have seen it; it made my head spin.  Wonder what it would make a good double feature with - Valley of the Dolls?

The orig VOTD, yes.  I have to say after watching Myra to the end that it's bad, but it's an *interesting* bad movie -- all that stuff with inserting the old movie clips is quite ahead of its time and it's amazing FOX let the director (a first-timer who never worked again) use their library like that. It's still a better movie than Beyond the VOTD and all the other Russ Meyer crap that people like Roger Ebert worship.

[RGMike]

So I caught up with Nowhere Boy, the film about John Lennon's teen years, last nite. I had some issues with the young actor who plays John -- for one thing, he has big blue eyes and John's were brown. He's not a dead ringer at all, but he gets the attitude down.  And the great Kristin Scott-Thomas is superb as his Aunt Mimi, as is the actress who plays his mother, Julia. It's nicely directed, tho' the big climactic catharsis is a bit too on-the-nose. Worth a look if you're a Beatle completists; it'll be just fine on DVD.

[RGMike]

Saw Megamind yesterday. Clever and quite funny; nice voice-work from Ferrell and Tina Fey (who I worship). But seriously: "Bad to the Bone" and "Mr Blue Sky" should be banned from ever being used in a movie ever again. Talk about lazy.

And since it was in 3-D they showed the trailer for the 3-D Justin Beiber concert flick. Beware.

[urth]

...But seriously: "Bad to the Bone" and "Mr Blue Sky" should be banned from ever being used in a movie ever again. Talk about lazy.

Def. agree on Mr. Blue Sky. We were watching an old ep of Dr. Who (David Tennant/Rose Tyler period) the other night and that song was used at several points in the show. I made a similar comment to Sarah. Ever since they used it in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" it's been like shit--it's everywhere.

[RGMike]

Thank you, Telemundo -- Best. Spanish. Movie-Title. Translation. EVAH: Hulk: El Hombre Increible!

[Tinka Cat]

This is the first I've heard of this, but it's right up my alley:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/21/PK9118TNQ9.DTL&type=movies

I'm certainly interested in seeing this.

I've seen the trailer a bunch of times, it really does look great.  Nice to see the Edge get the spotlight instead of Bono for a change! 

Opens today, and -- of course! -- Mick LaSalle says it like, TOTALLY SUCKS, dude!  Which means it must be great.

Finally saw It Might Get Loud last nite -- it's really terrific (LaSalle shows himself to be a musical idiot yet again). The vintage clips alone are worth the price of admission, but it's fascinating to hear these guys talk about music. Highly recommmended.

Minor quibble: Jack White, talented as he is, is a bit too self-consciously hipster-weird (everything he wears seems to be a carefully-chosen costume, the tie matches the hat etc, while Page and Edge are wearing T-shirts and jeans), and not once but twice he refers to Meg as his "sister" -- wasn't that charade buried years ago? Did the filmmakers not know?

saw this last night and I think Mick is right on about the sequences where all three are together in the warehouse.  Nothing really happens there.  The best part of the three together was watching the Edge and Jack barely contain themselves as Jimmy was playing the riff to Whole Lotta Love.  Most of the movie deals w the three individually, and that stuff is great. Director does a fine job delving into their carious beginnings and highlighting the moments when they decided to persue their muses.

Jack does come off as trying a little too hard to be cool.  He's really into the "performance art" of it all. The bloody guitar, the deep desire to become a Son House song.   I thought his customized guitar w the harmonica microphone inside it was just silly.   Does it really add that much to your music to be able to grab a harp mic from your guitar body and sing through your Humbuckers?   He does play dress-up a lot, but Jimmy is seen in his long Edwardian coat and The Edge is never without his beanie.  Jack does take it over the top though.  But you gotta dress the part, and he's a star.   

The Edge seems like a real regular dude -- so does Jimmy, for the most part, but Jack doesn't seem like he'd be really fun to hang out with, frankly -- I loved how The Edge deconstructed his riff to Elevation, showing us how it's all effects that produces that sound.  I mean, we all know that about his music, his sound, but it was a nice moment.

[sundaygal]

OK.  Can someone please 'splain to me, why the hell are they remaking Judge Dredd???  What next?  Battlefield Earth?

I wouldn't even bother with a link, but I'll provide one so you wouldn't think I was making this crap up.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/11/19/karl-urban-judge-dredd-image/

[urth]

OK.  Can someone please 'splain to me, why the hell are they remaking Judge Dredd???  What next?  Battlefield Earth?

I wouldn't even bother with a link, but I'll provide one so you wouldn't think I was making this crap up.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/11/19/karl-urban-judge-dredd-image/

Ummm...'cause there's no one with a lick of imagination left running any of the Hollywood studios?

[RGMike]

OK.  Can someone please 'splain to me, why the hell are they remaking Judge Dredd???  What next?  Battlefield Earth?

I wouldn't even bother with a link, but I'll provide one so you wouldn't think I was making this crap up.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/11/19/karl-urban-judge-dredd-image/

Ummm...'cause there's no one with a lick of imagination left running any of the Hollywood studios?

I think in this case it's a "the remake HAS to be an improvement on the original" kinda deal.

[RGMike]

Just tuned in to San Francisco on TCM -- right in time for the big earthquake climax. Pretty good special effects for pre-CGI 1936...

[ggould]

Saw Julie & Julia last nite -- Streep has her next Oscar in the bag. Like most critics, I found the "Julia" portions a lot more interesting than the "Julie" parts.  And oh, that food.  "You can never have too much butter!"

finally saw the DVD.  Pleasant film.

[RGMike]

If you thought Burlesque was the worst movie opening this week, apparently Nutcracker 3-D is even worse. Sez Mr Ebert:

You may be in disbelief. I was. “The Nutcracker in 3D” is one of those rare holiday movies that may send children screaming under their seats. Their parents, naively hoping to see a sweet version of “The Nutcracker,” will be appalled or angry, take your choice.

Yes, the film uses melodies that began with Tchaikovsky at one point, but now they have — are you sitting down? — lyrics by Tim Rice (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita” and “The Lion King”).

“The Nutcracker in 3D” easily qualifies as one of the most preposterous ideas in the history of the movies. It isn’t a story, it’s a gag line for one of David Letterman’s “Top 10 Lists” (No. 9, “It’s a Horrible Life”; No. 8, “A Christmas Carol in Hell”).

Only one thing could have made this film worse, and they haven’t neglected it. That would be to present it in 3-D. They have. The movie was filmed in Hungary in 2007, and perhaps those studio execs screening it sensed a certain lack of enthusiasm. Maybe they thought that by retroactively “adapting” it to 3-D, it would play better. No luck. I’ve seen bad retro 3-D, but I’ve never seen 3-D as bad as this. The film is so dim and dingy, you almost wonder if the smoke from those burning toys is drifting between you and the screen.

[Lightnin' Rod]

If you thought Burlesque was the worst movie

Of course, Mick gives Burlesque a rave review:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/24/MV8E1GFJU8.DTL

Checking Yahoo, most are giving it much less stellar reviews, though nobody seems to be out and out panning it.

[RGMike]

If you thought Burlesque was the worst movie

Of course, Mick gives Burlesque a rave review:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/24/MV8E1GFJU8.DTL

Checking Yahoo, most are giving it much less stellar reviews, though nobody seems to be out and out panning it.

Mick also LURVED the new Tyler Perry thing.