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AlmostAGhost

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Posts posted by AlmostAGhost

  1. Posted

    42 minutes ago, GrahamS. said:

    All fair points. I think when you have a group that iconic, it’s pretty much impossible to cover what everyone wants in a feature-length doc that’s not a filmed performance (ala Stop Making Sense). There should really be a Netflix/Hulu/Hbo/whatever season-length documentary about them. Something like what Wu-Tang got (my phone keeps wanting to call them “Will-Tang” for some reason, which makes them sound like a Will Smith backing band).

    COMPLETELY unrelated tangent: are any of you fans of Unspooled? Sometimes I like it—and I’ve liked their YouTube shows—but sometimes I find Amy’s opinions so nit-picky as to be cringe-inducing and damn near unlistenable (thinking specifically of the Goodfellas episode, where she seemed to take issue with what the movie WASN’T as to what it actually was. Don’t get me wrong—we don’t have to universally value something as a classic, but comparing the actual version of a film to an imaginary version in your head just reeks of BS to me. I couldn’t finish that episode because she did that so frequently that it undercut any valid points she had and it drove me nuts). Just curious.

     

     

     

     

    I was thinking - perhaps this documentary should have just been about Phife's life. That may have tempered some of our missed expectations and maybe have made it even more emotional.

    One thing that always surprises me about their last call reunion record was how great Jarobi sounded on it. He was never a huge part of the music, but his voice was strong on the last one.

    And yea, a bunch of us have been in on Unspooled since episode one and it has its own forum here if you scroll down a little bit on this here website. Come over and join us! We're pretty pro-Amy over there, though. :P No, it's common critique, I think. She doesn't bother me though. I want her nitpicks and value them. I do find I agree with her a lot, but if not, that's how I strengthen my opinions/arguments too. I do to some extent come at these movies with a "we need reevaluate a lot of these sacred cows" angle like she does, and that, I think, is true.

    • Like 4

  2. Posted

    4 hours ago, Jindai said:

    There were two previous movies by the same Production company "Cannon Films", even starring the same actor, Shô Kosugi. although in 3 very different roles. The First was "Enter the Ninja", which I found on PlutoTV, The Second was "Revenge of the Ninja" Also on Pluto, or Vudu for free, and then this one. There is no continuity of Story, or of any single character, so watching them all won't add anything except a bad taste in your mouth. You can trust me on that, or blame me for pointing out where to find them. LOL

    I just watched the first two as well. The first one is trash. The second one is pretty enjoyable actually, but by no means "good". Looking forward to the third one!

  4. Posted

    Yea, I'll add, I'm a super fan of the band for sure. They're my second favorite rap group and I have all their stuff. (Outkast is first.) 

    But I did not particularly enjoy the documentary. It's weird though because I do agree with the points Graham made, but also with what Cinco said. It needs more music. It needs more Ali Shaheed. It does give good access to the Tip and Phife, for sure, and some of it isn't all rosy. I would have preferred to see more of them when they were young, instead of seeing an older Q-Tip going to see his high school teacher. I dunno. Show me how their clashes and closeness created this music and made them popular and influential. That's the connection I think the documentary needed.

    Also they don't even mention "Scenario" once.

    • Like 6

  5. Posted

    I'm totally behind this movie, 100%. I love it. And as I've seen it over the years, it's really grown on me more and more. I've seen some Tennessee Williams movies that dive into craziness (Suddenly Last Summer actually hits on cannibalism) but this one keeps it realistic. It's a great worthy classic.

     

  12. Posted

    1 hour ago, ol' eddy wrecks said:

    Is everyone putting Swing Time in their bottom 10s because of the extended black face scene or did they just dislike the movie that much?

    Hmm well if I remember our discussion rightly, or at least this is what stuck in my head since then: we mostly all thought the plot was thin. Like, a top-100 all-time movie needs to have more to it than just 'amazing dancing'. If that were the case, we could throw Fast and the Furious on there, just because it has amazing stunts.

    I actually did like it ok, just not nearly enough to raise it over just about anything on this list so far (I have it at #82 of 92). The blackface, of course, doesn't help at all, and that probably is reason enough to tank it though.

    Also I think the consensus was there are better films by Fred & Ginger too that aren't hard to credit; they could easily go on this list with something else. (I can't really speak to that, this is still the only Fred & Ginger film I've seen.)

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    50 minutes ago, bleary said:

    You see, I basically felt the opposite, and I thought Paul and Amy expressed it the way I saw it, which is that the complexity of the characters leaves you a lot to think about, in such a way that perhaps thinking about it is more interesting than actually watching the movie.  I thought Paul and Amy nailed how the different characters represented different types of morality and skewed heroism.

    I mean the very first sentiment Paul offered when they started was to call it 'basic', and I think during the wrap up, he reiterated that as well.

    But that's what I mean... the characters do represent that stuff, which is the depth I was referring to, but I don't think the film handles those ideas, really at all. If it did, I never felt engaged by the ideas presented.  

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    Yea I vote no too, but I do like the film more than most of the war movies we've seen. I just don't think it's better than them. Likability isn't everything when you get to the top of a list like this.

    I mentioned on my Letterboxd that the film didn't leave me much to think about, and I think Paul & Amy expressed it similarly. The film has some depth to it, but it's not a particularly engaging depth. And that may be part of its appeal, I'm not sure, but that's where it loses me some. 

  22. Posted

    Yea same, it's been ages since I watched this, and didn't rewatch it this week. The pod episode was fun to listen to though, but I sort of miss a serious discussion that makes me think. Hope when we run out of AFI movies, Paul & Amy can find some way to keep going with "great" movies, not just cool ones to revisit.

  23. Posted

    I think Amy is right about the age stuff. I think the whole story would've felt more consequential if these guys were all like 30. Then they'd truly be throwing their lives away by living this sort of life and facing prison time at the end and everything. The stakes would have felt so much higher and urgent. But I guess it's a 'true' story so they had to go this way? I dunno.

    I like the movie a good bit, truly, but I did vote no here. I just don't know if it transcends the genre so much.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    2 minutes ago, grudlian. said:

    Amazon has Murder Most Foul on its own disc but that is the only source I see with that distinction. Definitely still a rip off but, from the songs we've heard, Murder Most Foul feels the most different. So, maybe that's the reason? But I figure most people just get mp3s or stream it. Kind of a weird separation.

    But here's the weirdest thing I've seen about the album. I don't know its origin of the cover artbut its been used as an album cover previously.
    https://www.amazon.com/Mojo-Chess-Northern-VARIOUS-ARTISTS/dp/B0009MA996/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=superdeluxeed-20&linkId=466e977009c8bc38b50973172b9741a4&language=en_US

    Yea he's been repurposing old photos for covers for a bit now. If I remember, Tempest did, so maybe did Modern Times? Like I think they're clip art/stock photos almost haha.

    The weird thing to me -- he said "Murder" was from years ago. So is this whole album just like leftover outtakes? But then they are calling it an album and it's not like he hasn't released tons of outtake collections. So there must be something new to it too (hopefully). 

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    11 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    Wikipedia has the album as 70:33. Idk, Triplicate was only about two hours and it was split on three discs. Maybe there's a thematic reason. 

    Yea 2 CDs is a rip for that length. I think it's probably to match that it has to be 2 vinyls to fit though, but that's not how they should be doing it.

    • Like 1
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