Episode 140.5 - Minisode 140.5

[EllenM 943]

Glad to hear Ghostbusters is good! I am looking forward to seeing it, but of course, that won't be until I can get it on Amazon. I truly wish I could have seen that instead of the movie I did see this weekend--Crimson Peak--which I felt was absolute garbage (and not in a fun HDTGM way either).

 

However, my big question is: what's everyone's take on The Shadow? I only made it (maybe) halfway yesterday, and when I had the opportunity to pick up where I left off this morning, I really couldn't conjure up the desire to do so...I really wanted to like it, and I felt like it started interestingly enough, but after awhile, I just felt it had gotten tedious.

 

I don't know, maybe it's just me. What I can say, is every time I try to talk about it, I keep wanting to call it The Spirit instead of The Shadow. I can't help but wonder if The Spirit (which I have not seen) might have been a more interesting pick...

The Spirit was a really weird movie for me. The love interest's name was Ellen so it took me out of those scenes. Also seeing ScarJo dressed as a Nazi officer was off-putting.

 

On the other hand, the movie was prescient for having Sam Jackson as the head of a shadowy organization and ScarJo as his trusty lieutenant.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Holy shit, when Ian McKellan is about to give his fusion bomb or whatever it is to the bad guy's henchman and Baldwin distracts him with his ominous laughter, I could have sworn the henchman said "Gandalf?" while looking at McKellan. That would have made this movie truly psychic. And I'm pretty sure Penelope Ann Miller gave an O-face when she realized Baldwin was the Shadow.

 

 

Tim Currys scenes are also pretty special.

[RyanSz 3140]

Tim Currys scenes are also pretty special.

But there were so few, especially for a second-in-command role, you can never have enough Curry unless it's in your food then you run the risk of a burning ring of fire.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Holy guacamole a photo came up on tumblr of The Shadow recording and the guest is KILLER AND I AM SO EXCITED

[NathanGordon 1096]

Tim Currys scenes are also pretty special.

"Why don't you come down and see my beryllium sphere sometime?" I love how he was leering at Naomi Watts Penelope Ann Miller. I just wish he had more scenes in this movie.

 

So I don't get it -- is The Shadow supposed to be a good guy? He used to be an opium warlord, now he saves people but puts them into indentured servitude, plus he uses his abilities to hit on Penelope Ann (reading her mind about champagne and peking duck) and make things difficult for the police (who are just trying to stop bad guys).

 

It's funny that his power is basically gaslighting people.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

Hold up, I heard there were people on the Internet saying not nice things about Crimson Peak and I GOTS TO COME RUNNING!

 

Sorry, I just love that movie so, so much. Guillermo has my heart.

 

I also really dig The Shadow. It certainly has its faults but it also has a lot of things going for it. I don't know if there ever was a more perfect actor to play the character than mid-90s-era Alec Baldwin. He just has this ideal balance of charisma, acting chops, darkness, danger, handsomeness, and that mellifluous voice of his that are all essential elements to The Shadow. I also really like the idea of a hero who used to be, and in some ways still is, a terrible monster; that you needed someone awash in the ways of evil in order to fight evil. Like an Art Deco Suicide Squad. Speaking of art deco, this movie just looks great, from the exaggerated 1930s New York sets to the costumes to Baldwin's piercing eyes (both normal and in Black Shadow Hypnotizing Mode). Shadow's powers are even interesting to me; this sort of vague set of psychic abilities that vary in strength depending on the person he is using it on and his own strength at the time; a master of inner illusions and sin. Because he's gazed into the abyss, he's able to use the abyss on men who are still in its thrall in order to control them and thereby defeat darkness itself. Neato!

 

Would it have been better if Guillermo del Toro directed it? Obviously, but I also had way more fun with it than the typical HDTGM movie.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

The Shadow pretty perfectly represents the era from which the comics sprang forth from. It's over the top, the sets, costumes, and the inclusion of a modern day Mongolian army screams pulp comics in all the best ways.

 

Penelope Ann Miller was also pretty great in this movie. The costume designer and stylist did an amazing job as well. She looked like she stepped out of a time machine.

 

Also why the fuck aren't there billboards that blow smoke rings anymore?

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Also just watched the phantom the other day. It's funny they're doing two Kristy Swanson movies so close to one another.

 

I gotta say the phantom stands up as a pretty fun movie still. Catherine zeta Jones was chewing scenery left and right, but of course that's when treat Williams wasnt stealing the movie.

[NathanGordon 1096]

Best part of the movie, right here:

 

 

That's Mad magazine level.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I finished The Shadow this morning. I'm not really sure what to say about it at this point--I may need to let it percolate for a little bit. As others have said already, I liked the set design and enjoyed a lot of the pulpy elements. In fact, I'd almost say its not really bad enough to be a HDTGM movie. For any other movie, I might have found nits to pick, but...considering it's origins as a pulp comic and radio show, anything I might have had to say about it were easily brushed away as genre conventions. Does everything make sense? No, not really. But in context of the movie they are trying to make and the story they're trying to tell, I didn't really have a problem with it. I enjoyed a lot of the acting (i.e. acting choices), especially Shiwan Khan. If I had any complaint, I feel like the movie dragged a little bit.

 

I guess what I want from my HDTGM movies is a movie that is trying to be one thing and failing miserably, and in that respect, I can't say that this movie really failed. However, I am eager to hear what the gang has to say about it!

[tomspanks 9039]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but since there's been some discussion about the Ghostbusters movie here, I was wondering if anyone else had a concern with the functionality of the uniforms? I think the new uniforms look cool, but I feel like nobody took into consideration how the ladies would pee in these, especially with a proton pack belted on. The women have to undo the belt, place the proton pack on the dirty bathroom floor (ew), unbutton/unzip the uniform all the way, and take off the tops. Who has time for this when they're about to bust some ghosts? Separates would have been the way to go.

ETA: I haven't seen the film yet.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

Yeah, as much as I do like the film, I do see it on the whole as a sort of a missed opportunity, especially considering how much I like Baldwin as The Shadow and how much I would have liked to have seen more of him as the character (and maybe in a better movie). I think considering the time period it was made and the self-conscious adoption of pulp genre conventions, The Shadow comes off as a sort of combination of Tim Burton's Batman and Sam Raimi's Darkman, both of which were made by directors who might have made The Shadow into the franchise it deserved to be.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but since there's been some discussion about the Ghostbusters movie here, I was wondering if anyone else had a concern with the functionality of the uniforms? I think the new uniforms look cool, but I feel like nobody took into consideration how the ladies would pee in these, especially with a proton pack belted on. The women have to undo the belt, place the proton pack on the dirty bathroom floor (ew), unbutton/unzip the uniform all the way, and take off the tops. Who has time for this when they're about to bust some ghosts? Separates would have been the way to go. ETA: I haven't seen the film yet.

 

Well, considering (as you've said) the time restrictions one might face when engaged in the "bustin'" of ghosts, and the likelihood of literally losing your shit when approached by said ghosts, I think there's only one real solution...

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but since there's been some discussion about the Ghostbusters movie here, I was wondering if anyone else had a concern with the functionality of the uniforms? I think the new uniforms look cool, but I feel like nobody took into consideration how the ladies would pee in these, especially with a proton pack belted on. The women have to undo the belt, place the proton pack on the dirty bathroom floor (ew), unbutton/unzip the uniform all the way, and take off the tops. Who has time for this when they're about to bust some ghosts? Separates would have been the way to go.

ETA: I haven't seen the film yet.

I think this is gonna have to be one of those "pee before you leave" times. Cause honestly who has time in the middle of bustin' ghosts to take a leak anyway?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

But what if you get so scared by a ghost that you pee yourself while busting? Plus, you might be in those suits for hours on end, making even adult diapers an unreliable and unsanitary option. I think the most utilitarian strategy would be a catheter system. Maybe Holtzmann, being the engineer that she is, could utilize that urine to assist in a sort of liquid cooling system for all that ghostbusting weaponry.

[Smigg 1488]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but since there's been some discussion about the Ghostbusters movie here, I was wondering if anyone else had a concern with the functionality of the uniforms? I think the new uniforms look cool, but I feel like nobody took into consideration how the ladies would pee in these, especially with a proton pack belted on. The women have to undo the belt, place the proton pack on the dirty bathroom floor (ew), unbutton/unzip the uniform all the way, and take off the tops. Who has time for this when they're about to bust some ghosts? Separates would have been the way to go.

ETA: I haven't seen the film yet.

 

I would imagine they'd use a Stadium Pal/Gal.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Okay now y'all are just getting weird lol

[Cameron H. 23786]

Okay now y'all are just getting weird lol

 

Since we're on a bit of a scatological bent, did you all know that since it was so difficult to get in and out of a suit of armor, knights used to just shit and piss themselves? It was then usually their poor squire's job to wash it all out. It also explains why a relatively minor wound could get easily infected and lead to death.

 

When you think of the stench, it kind of puts a damper on the whole "Knight in Shinning Armor" fantasy...

 

[Smigg 1488]

 

Since we're on a bit of a scatological bent, did you all know that since it was so difficult to get in and out of a suit of armor, knights used to just shit and piss themselves? It was then usually their poor squire's job to wash it all out. It also explains why a relatively minor wound could get easily infected and lead to death.

 

When you think of the stench, it kind of puts a damper on the whole "Knight in Shinning Armor" fantasy...

 

 

There's a marathon runner by the name of Paula Radcliffe, and she was way out in front, and she was caught short, so she squatted, did her business in the street and went right back to running.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

There's a marathon runner by the name of Paula Radcliffe, and she was way out in front, and she was caught short, so she squatted, did her business in the street and went right back to running.

 

[tomspanks 9039]

DID YOU KNOW that some competitors pee on their bikes during Ironman? Every second counts, man.

Thank you for subscribing to pee facts.

[Smigg 1488]

DID YOU KNOW that some competitors pee on their bikes during Ironman? Every second counts, man.

Thank you for subscribing to pee facts.

 

Stone Cold Steve Austin shit himself during a match in South Africa when he got food poisoning, his opponent (Yokozuna, 700lbs samoan dude) slammed him, and he shit himself.

 

 

[NathanGordon 1096]

well this thread took a turn

[Auden 1809]

A ghostbuster suit is a piece of protective clothing. Protective clothing like hazmat suits, flight suits, space suits, firefighter suits etc. are usually one piece with minimum openings to better protect the wearer. Women have dealt with petticoats, corsets and crinolines. A jumpsuit is easy peasy.

 

I want to remind everyone that in debates of women doing traditionally male jobs, our bodies are always ridiculed, and women are turned into weak, hormonal and barely continent wrecks who should be kept from the jobs we want and are qualified to do.

[taylor anne photo 11311]