AlmostAGhost

11/1 Ep 25 - Duck Soup 11/6 VOTE (America) 11/8 Ep 26 - SPECIAL EPISODE ("where we answer fan questions and unveil our official ranking of the first 25 movies!") 11/15 Ep 27 - Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

it's accidentally feminist, accidentally pro-rock and roll, accidentally a teen movie. that's just mindblowing when you think about it.

Hm. Not at all, in the history of rock, it's definitely a fair point. I don't know if this movie approaches this very much though, especially because the protagonists are pretty much not dealing with rock music (Fats and the other guy were dealing with Julie London!). I guess you could argue Fats' "Rock Yard" nonsense hit song does it, but it's so dumb, that I think it probably didn't appropriate enough haha. There were a couple of black performers, Little Richard and Abbey Lincoln, though I honestly thought they were the two best performances in the film. I was looking at a timeline. 1955 saw "Rock Around The Clock". 1956 had a Rock Around The Clock movie. Elvis broke big in 1956. Little Richard's big hits were around this time too, and same with Chuck Berry. This movie came out in December 1956. ("Jailhouse Rock" song and film came out in 1957!) So this movie was right on the cusp, where I fully believe that they didn't know what was happening re: the culture shift/popularity that the music was causing. They just knew it was popular, is all.

j/k... i feel like this had to have happened with hiphop at some point though. like there's gotta be some movie that's like 'look at this stupid rap music' when it's actually cool (as ice)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II?

This was in a post on reddit: The Girl Can't Help It seems to exist in a philosophical paradox. It attempts to spoof rock music as a degradation of culture while simultaneously celebrating its spirit of youthful anarchy. This internal ambiguity was perhaps driven by 20th Century Fox's desire to create a film that would appeal to both hip teenagers and their un-hip parents - to bridge the impossible chasm of the "generation gap". The selection of musical performers in the film suggests that this was a conscious design. It mixes genuine Rock N' Roll heavyweights like Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Platters, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran with vanguards of square "establishment" music like Ray Anthony and Julie London - and throws in oddball acts that are neither fish nor foul (like The Chuckles, a "rock" group fronted by an accordion player) for good measure.

I'll see what else I can find, but this article talks a little about the director: he was admired by foreign directors for his commentary on America. Also "And while Tashlin presents rock as little more than a novelty, the screaming manifestation of a screaming, plastic age, he shoots the acts—Little Richard, the terrific and forgotten Treniers, Abbey Lincoln, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, the Platters and others—with unalloyed pleasure." https://observer.com/2006/08/the-girl-cant-help-it-jayne-mansfields-allure/

I'm sure the marketing realized who they should market it to right quick, so put their names on the poster! But yea I don't know, that utter lack of self-awareness does explain a lot to me about this movie haha. The director/producer seems to be mostly known for directing Looney Tunes cartoons, Jerry Lewis movies, and being a writer for people like Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. He was certainly not hip to the rock music.

Yea that's the point. It was intended to mock rock, but ended up showing how awesome it was. Here's the lead quote from wiki, calling it satirical and 'unintended': . The movie was originally intended as a vehicle for the American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, with a satirical subplot involving teenagers and rock 'n' rollmusic. The unintended result has been called the "most potent" celebration of rock music ever captured on film.

Yea so apparently, according to Wiki, I think I read after, they were supposedly MOCKING rock music. Thus, the dumb "rock on a rock pile" song or whatever. Of course, they are including some famous rock greats like Little Richard so it couldn't have been all mocking. But that explains a lot about who the film was for. Old guys who are like "pfff give me Julie London instead of that rock and or roll." (I actually adore Julie, but she's old-fashioned pre-rock.) Also the best part was the way they had Jayne say 'bouillon' over and over

I gotta say, I feel like everyone listened to a totally different podcast last week than I did.

i love this

I want moreeee Here's mine: My final album rankings: (I posted this in the Collapse thread, but since then I've actually readjusted a little.) 15. Around The Sun 14. Green 13. Accelerate 12. Up 11. Collapse Into Now 10. Monster 9. Reveal 8. Lifes Rich Pageant 7. Document 6. Out Of Time 5. Reckoning 4. Murmur 3. New Adventures In Hi-Fi 2. Fables Of The Reconstruction 1. Automatic For The People IRS era songs: 10. Feeling Gravitys Pull 9. 7 Chinese Bros 8. So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) 7. Sitting Still 6. Maps and Legends 5. Gardening At Night 4. Can't Get There From Here 3. The One I Love 2. Radio Free Europe 1. Cuyahoga Warner Bros era (with Berry): 10. Electrolite 9. Me In Honey 8. Be Mine 7. Country Feedback 6. Belong 5. Sweetness Follows 4. E-Bow The Letter 3. Drive 2. How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us 1. Find The River post-Berry 10. Walk It Back 9. Daysleeper 8. Suspicion 7. The Lifting 6. Hope 5. Oh My Heart 4. Hollow Man 3. It Happened Today 2. Chorus and the Ring 1. Imitation Of Life

So then I guess the question becomes, is lack of depth a benefit to this movie? Or is it not as superficial as I think? What makes it stand out above other superficial, fun movies? Why is this on the list and not, like, Fast And The Furious or something? (That sounds like a silly question, and hate myself for writing it, but I think it's still my question.)

I liked the episode to be honest, though it wasn't my favorite guest segment. But I think, honestly, Paul & Amy match my interest in Raiders. Like it's really fun, and I've always liked it, but what else is there really to say. Snakes' points are good, but they did bring them up, and I'm not sure how much more in depth they could or should have gone? I liked the focus on the fun, or the 'child-like' angle of the movie. Is the movie flawed, sure it is, but let's talk about how fun it is and why and how. That's why the movie is on the list. I do not think Paul & Amy were in any way encouraging of the underage relationship, nor praising Melania, and I feel safe in speaking for them on that.

this is a prequel to the Blue Lagoon right?

Ooh sounds cool. Julie London too!

I had to watch it on Youtube last night. It's a little blurry/low resolution but you can find the full thing there (for free).

BREAK YOUR GROOVE

I don't remember the line, I was just going by the poetry haha. You're right though, they'd probably not go with the appropriate rhyme there and instead some other random word.

Pants, probably

Yea I just relistened to the end too. You're right, Amy is more questioning of the second half part. It's definitely an interesting conversation though about the structure of the film I think that they maybe should've gone into a little more. I am struck by what Paul said about just checking a box to be like 'yes to Psycho' was something I absolutely considered too, and maybe even try to wrestle with every week on these movies. I saw a lot of Letterboxd ratings of this beforehand, everyone has it 5 stars, and I hadn't seen it in over years. Is it my inclination to be like 'yes like it too' or do I really? I'm trying my best to step back when I think of these movies. Do I like it because I should, or because I do? (I came out on this one that I do.)

Don't take it personally, I imagine most of us here also remember these parts. I just mean in general, culture-wise. There's a few scenes from Psycho that are imprinted on the culture though, and her romance isn't one of them. For example, I just typed "psycho" into the twitter gif search. These are the scenes that come up: basically it's a bunch from the shower scene, Janet driving, and the creepier Norman scenes. I definitely think the view of this film over time has been distorted by the prevalence (and power!) of these particular images/scenes.

also putting this here to watch later

Well, as Paul said, they weren't having an affair! But I think that emphasizes my point: the impactful 'meme' scenes we remember certainly swamp the patient build-ups. I mean, those build-ups are what create tension and make the movie so much better, but that's not what makes an impact on the culture. I mean, Janet Leigh in a bra on a bed isn't the part we all remember, it's the shower scene, right? We remember Norman dressed as the mother, but nobody knows the actress who played the sister that led up to that. The guest made a documentary about the shower scene, not the sister. Why is that? *shrug* I think the memes of this movie definitely distort the view of what it actually is (and maybe even hurt its rep - and maybe Amy's comments seem to signify that).