AlmostAGhost

So Roped on January 8th?

We skipped it, but we always stayed with an old HDTGM movie, right? Now we could toss in other things if we felt like it. That may be a bit more fun than just pure rewatching things? Or... we can do two Fridays a month, one old HDTGM classic and one new bad movie we decide on together? Just an idea

I do appreciate going through old HDTGM films, but maybe that should be the rough guide and if something comes up we all decide we must see we can jump off the path every so often. So maybe the default is an HDTGM film and every month we can decide as a group if we want to deviate to something else? (Like, we should probably do this Roped we just learned about together right?)

Amy Nicholson just tweeted that Pennies is her tied #1 favorite film of all-time

re: the ice skating Danica McKellar, star of numerous of these Christmas movies herself, posted a behind-the-scenes of them filming her ice skating scenes because she does not know how to ice skate. https://www.instagram.com/p/CITIr48nB9P/

Drums

Yea, I wouldn't be surprised if they use a very loose definition of 'theme' and come up with new ways to define the sets. I've pretty much moved on from the list idea though, not just AFI, but even the space thing. To me it's more like, here's a possibly 'great' movie every week, let's think about it. It's nice to have them grouped somehow though, so whatever they come up with is fine with me, as long as it doesn't stray too far from 'great'. (It's a nice antidote to watching HDGTM movies or whatever to have a scheduled quality film every week to think about. Even if I don't necessarily agree or love everything as great, it's very welcome to watch these. I never bothered with like just pure fun side eps like House Party.)

I'm a big fan of this movie. I did find my rewatch of it for the pod... it was a little slow having seen it before. I wasn't quite as entertained by it as the first time. But I still think it's great, and that makes me very stoked to see what the director does next. She could easily outdo this movie though, as good as it is. Which is exciting.

Maybe, but I also think the story itself is dark and weird and a little inaccessible. It's not the most commercial thing, as it was presented this way. No idea if the earlier versions were better at this

I don't think that would've helped the marketability all that much, but I think it would have made the film better. Though I guess a better film is going to be more marketable, so maybe. I liked the movie enough myself, but the lip synching was something I didn't, even though I understood why they did it that way.

I'll say it. Steve Martin is a total freak

not at all meant as a forum replacement, but if you guys want to try a cozier discord, i set one up for us so we can communicate a little more casually, or about other things besides terrible movies and musicals. https://discord.gg/C6aBjBV4

Don't they play some of it on the Remain In Light episode? I think they did. Didn't know Koenig played on it, that's interesting

Yea, this. Though I could see it being fun for Musical Mondays or like an unofficial group and using to stay connected a little closer/talk about other things. But if there were an official one with thousands, I wouldn't bother either

Geneva was ok in the beginning, but I think was one of the testers for the Unspooled group and in the beginning it was cool. I haven't checked back in in awhile and it seemed to not have much discussion. There is an Unspooled Discord too, which seems to run a little better. But I reckon maybe there's lots of film groups all around and people haven't needed another one? I do think forums work for me for film pods.

Ya I wouldn't go out of my way to prepare for a watch party. I skipped this week's MM because I hit play and I was like pretty immediately 'I don't think this is my thing' -- I'm not sure if that was in general or just my mood that night. Also skipped this week's HDGTM because I was watching Shakespeare films at my own schedule, and didn't feel like breaking from it. Though it's been a minute, I should get back to it. But generally I'm glad for anything. If I don't watch something, it's not because of the choice of film. So feel free to go wide and far (or even popular and classics) to make picks!

Actually that's not true, I did pick a movie I had seen on one of my picks. But I think that was my first one, and since then I'm more interested in finding new things than I am in a rewatch of something.

I only pick stuff I haven't seen. We like bad movies, so I don't think quality is a concern! (Though I do think MM has more freedom to try to find good things)

and yes, i already messaged that to Paul

while we wait

Yea if asked, I will say Rushmore is my all-time favorite film. Tenenbaums maybe has more to it, more going on, and I think I maybe consider it better-made. If we had to choose one to send, I'm ok with either, I guess. Leave Rushmore here on Earth with me. I think if you're sending a Wes up, it has to be one of those two. Grand Budapest is fine and I dig it, but I don't see how it even compares to all the others. I think my Wes rating is something like: Rushmore Royal Tenenbaums Fantastic Mr. Fox (the theater experience on this was absolutely the most fun I've ever had in a theater, it's a FUN movie). Life Aquatic / Moonrise Kingdom (unsure their order) Grand Budapest / Bottle Rocket (unsure their order) Darjeeling and probably the weirdest fluke in all my movie-watching is I never saw Isle of Dogs even though I consider myself a Wes nut. *shrug* I have plans to hit it up soon though, finally. also love Ambersons, I would dig an Unspooled look at that!

easiest Unspooled yes vote I've ever had

I'm a big fan of this movie, I was struck by it back in 1997 or 1998 and even again now on rewatch. But I don't think it's quite right for the Unspooled Space Rocket.

hmm, honestly not really. Usually Paul & Amy are great at explaining things, but I still don't have a great sense of it. Some of the things they mentioned were cool, like the well-composed minimalistic shots, but I'm not clear how that's enough to elevate a movie even near the level of "best movie ever." And I never felt it was particularly artistic to look it either, so even with such detailed set-ups, what was the point? I get that the director maybe has his own sort of cinematic language, and I think that's probably what I took away most of all -- that's probably why all those directors they mentioned picked it as #1 all-time? *shrug* I will add, I felt a little like Paul & Amy (and even those directors) were a bit snobby in rising this up so high. A sort of "if you don't like this, you just don't get it or prefer Hollywood action" sort of angle. I'll definitely give it another try in time though, I can generally do dry or slow or minimal or foreign just fine. Just not this one! I haven't figured out why that is.