AlmostAGhost

I'm still finishing the pod, but I wanted to react to Amy's comment about Willis' acting. She mentions that he had some emotion in the first scene, but is too stiff for the remainder of the film. Is this not because he's no longer human from then on? I sort of took this as a conscious decision, and not bad acting. He's supposed to be distant and sort of odd, right?

Ep 16 - The Sixth Sense Ep 17 - Taxi Driver Ep 18 - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Ep 19 - High Noon ghosts, criminals, aliens, cowboys

I enjoyed this too, especially Amy Adams and the songs. Had some good laughs, esp. when she showed up in New York by emerging out of a sewer manhole. Haha. But as I wrote on Letterboxd, I agree with Snakes saying there are lost opportunities here. This could have been a really sharp satire, the premise is perfect for it -- wouldn't even have to be mocking at all, it could just be an insightful look at these Disney tropes. I have a sense it started that way, and then they decided to take it straight, and now it's just another Disney princess musical like all the others.

I think I said this somewhere else in the past, but I think they should just lose the 'one band' focus and just talk about music. They could do a Radiohead episode, a couple of Prince ones, a "favorite songs of the 80s," Adam's wedding mix, "favorite concerts we've been to," etc. etc. There's a million themes/ideas they could easily delve into and be entertaining and see how their lists clash and the show could last as long as they felt like it.

Yea, when I watched Gene, I was like "man that's pretty cool" but when I watched Ginger & Fred, I was like "HOW THE %@$! IS THIS HAPPENING"

It is, yea. It's placed in a virtual tie with Double Indemnity. (DI is #29, Maltese is #31.)

Kathleen did Sweetness Follows??! Gonna dig that up right now

Well then let's go the other way. What makes this 5 star perfection? What differentiates this from Swing Time? (Besides, the black face scene haha.) Everyone seems to be like, well some scenes are long or unrelated, or it doesn't hold up to thinking about it, or Debbie Reynolds isn't quite good enough, or whatever. But then, at the same time, it's 5 star ratings all around and Paul, for example, concludes it should be even higher than number 5. What connection am I missing?

It's hard to be a the one dissenter sometime, I don't want to sound like I'm just crapping on stuff people like. I know we're all here to discuss! It's just a line that's hard to get right, and I'm uber-aware of it (as someone who runs a FB music fan group and have to deal with that sometimes). The colors thing was basically an oversimplification - the best thing to me was the art/direction of the film, I'll add. But some of those art things just feel very nostalgic, as opposed to remotely fresh - I'm thinking the colors, the songs, the costumes, the sets. Even the dancing, really. It's all just old. If this movie came out 20 years earlier, I think the reception would be more apt. (Though I was interested to learn and note from Paul and Amy how Kelly directed the dancing was unique, comparing it to dancing with the camera.)

I guess mainly the idea that the songs came first, before the story. That rubs me the wrong way, and I don't think it's me, I think it shows in the film - that's why most of the songs don't really fit at all (e.g., why we're immediately discussing the Broadway Melody scene). It's a fine movie, but top 5 of all time? TOP 5? It never feels that unique to me. Yes, it is charming and the dancing is awesome. That's why I gave it 3 stars. But 1952 is way too late to be all wowed by colors in a film. And no, I don't hate joy. Everyone's all "it's so happy"... but is it? It is about destroying a good actress' reputation, and there seems to be a message that the audience is dopes ("to save this bad story we'll put songs in it" and then, yup, everyone loves it). I'm pretty sure The Dancing Cavalier was the Titanic of its day. Anyway, I was mainly joking about AMA -- I really don't want to take over a thread when everyone else is feeling it.

I didn't like it all that much, AMA

I mean, I'm just repeating what I said last week but I love the real advice mixing with the absurd improv. This is what Jessica and Lennon do best: inspire and relate, and improvise weird craziness. They've found a way to do both in the same podcast.

Hmm I actually did just grab a couple of musicals you haven't done. OK add me to the rotation

is there a list somewhere (Letterboxd maybe?) that I can see what you've done

In the beginning, I vastly preferred the studio, but somewhere along the way, I got really used to the live eps and now prefer them. I think they all just have such good chemistry, not just with each other, but with the audiences too. I like the extra dimension an audience gives to the discussions.

Oh ya I'll definitely try to participate in discussion if I watch, but being a chooser seemed like too lofty a position to start with haha

Hmm no not yet, let me see if I can fit it in with any regularity or not. I don't even always watch the How Did It Get Made movie, so we'll see. Also I'm not particularly a musical fan, nor knowledgeable about the genre, so it'll be better to let others pick

Perfect thanks, will try to add this to the rotation

OK newbie here. How does 'Musical Mondays' work? When do we discuss what we watch?

That's what a femme fatale will do to you sometimes. Who hasn't been there?

Thanks! It runs itself at this point but I'm pretty proud of it

Haha that's amazing, and I love that he came back months later to plug Parks & Rec. Perfection. He also says on his profile that Up is his favorite REM album. Have you guys sent this to Adam and Scott on twitter?

That sounds great! Especially the spooky theremin.

Yea that's certainly the main theme of the whole thing - a sort of secret double life. Regular insurance salesman or murderer? Even just the idea of double indemnity is this sort of secret thing: the contract on its face says they'd pay one amount, but it can be doubled in some situations. Shadowy crime taking place in sunny Los Angeles? I think I read somewhere that was why they gave Stanwyck or sort of off-putting, cheap wig, to emphasize her phoniness/facade. It's a fun theme to explore, and noir is a good way to do that. I'd change Danny's requirement for noir being 'caught up in a criminal underworld' though to just being 'caught up in a crime.' That's all a noir really needs. Also, does anyone have any other favorite noir I should watch?

It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle? and Norton: That witness from the train. What was his name? Keyes: His name was Jackson. Probably still is. and this one took me a second to get it haha: Phyllis: I was just fixing some iced tea. Would you like a glass? Neff: Yeah, unless you got a bottle of beer that's not working.