Susan*

I don't think James Cameron thought he was making a movie for teenaged girls. I feel like the discussion went a bit off the rails. Oh well, that's the fun of forums. I am too old to have been in Clueless's target audience, but I loved it when it came out and still love it. But I didn't like Mean Girls (I wanted to for Tina Fey), but I know that movie means a lot to some people. I liked Heathers BTW.

I can't stomach that comparison and find it insulting. Goonies was a crappy movie that some people loved and remember fondly. Titanic was a well crafted movie that was difficult to make and had many qualities that make movies good. It might not be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay, but it deserved oscars. (I saw Titanic once in a theater as an adult, and saw it again about a year ago. I have always hated the song. I'd bet the song was responsible for some of the backlash as it assaulted people who didn't even see the movie )

I am going to try and wait and add movies to the list as they are talked about on the show and try not to look ahead to other movies on the list. But I see that Bonnie and Clyde is coming and that will be a relief. I can put that at the top of my list and then see if anything can knock it off. It's nice to have a problem to focus on once in a while that isn't a real problem. I don't know what my criteria will be for making tough calls once they get to some of my sacred cows. I know it shouldn't be my favorite movie, which is why it's good that Citizen Kane came up early. I have never enjoyed the movie but I can see why everyone should see it. I'm considering going with "what movies would I most recommend to someone with the same taste as me." Though it's going to be tough not to go with which movies I like best, because there must be several on the list that I've seen more than 10 times. I don't know if Kane will stay in my top 50 once we get to more movies I love.

BTW, I saw the movie with a good friend from work. She went because she went to all the big movies and she had a thing for Leo. Partway though the movie, my friend gets up to go to the restroom and I say "hurry back, I think they're about to hit the iceberg." She replies, "They're going to hit an iceberg?!?!"

I had a fascination with all things Titanic way before the movie. There was a lot of press about trying to find it before they did, then we got the photos of the actual thing doled out slowly. I have a life-long general fascination for things like famous fires and explosions, and disasters where man played a big role, so the Titanic story fit into that. I went to the movie with big expectations as I had loved several of Cameron's movies and felt that it was a labor of love for him, even though he was getting terrible press. (In addition to reading books about disasters like the Circus Fire, I also read a lot of books about movies that didn't turn out well like Heaven's Gate and Bonfire of the Vanities--seriously read the Devil's Candy ASAP) When I saw the movie in the theater, I was happy with the way it started, because I wanted to see the actual wreckage on a big screen. For me, Kate Winslet was a draw because she was brilliant in Heavenly Creatures, a movie that shouldn't have hit home with me because I've never had homicidal fantasies but setting that aside that movie totally captured the sort of relationship that two girl best friends can have. I knew Leo had good press from a couple of big movies but I hadn't seen his movies. I was surprised that the movie ticked all the boxes for me. I recognized real people characters from history, and was waiting to see the band play on etc. I thought it was amazing. It's not a movie I wanted to revisit because sometimes a movie is so big and fulfilling I feel like I don't need to.

I will not rewatch this movie. I dragged my friends to see it as a midnight movie in high school and I never lived it down.

I roll my eyes when Chevy Chase is mentioned but the truth is that I very much enjoyed his movies in my childhood and teenage years. I like Caddyshack for all it’s many flaws. But I also love Foul Play and Seems Like Old Times. They have some very dated and lazy parts but I loved them as a kid and they hold up for me. I remember sort of liking Fletch and Funny Farm but it’s harder to love the Chevy Chase character as you and he age. But he was super popular for a reason.

Thinking about this week’s podcast emphasizes again how rare it is to find a thoroughly good semi modern comedy. When I catch one on cable I can maybe watch an hour then turn it off before I have to sit through the parts that don’t work. I love Bill Murray and he gives Ghostbusters its memorable scenes but it’s not a great movie. It’s maybe half a good movie. The best parts of Lost in America are genius but I never watch the last third. There are scenes in Stripes and Private Benjamin that are classic but overall they don’t work. I hate Animal House full stop. For now I’m sticking with There’s Something About Mary as the best overall comedy of my adulthood years.

Oh, and I was thrilled to find out that Amy liked the Gay Divorcee!!!! That F&G movie had the full cadre of supporting actors doing their stuff. And The Continental won the first Oscar for best song.

I don't know what counts as a comedy. Some of the old ones are straight up comedies and some are in a gray area. Brilliant directors probably used to be more apt to make a straight up comedy? I think it would be tough to add modern comedies to the list. I believe There's Something About Mary is a perfect movie, and I've argued that with friends for years but never found anyone who agrees with me. Comedies are really, really hard to get right. There are so many that I enjoy 3/4ths of but then they fall apart (for me). The thing is there are so many ones from the early days that are not on the list. Bringing Up Baby has been one of my all time favorite movies for all of my adult life but you could have picked dozens of others. I am just terrible at scanning that list and seeing what I'm looking for, but I think the only Jean Arthur movie may be Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? No Jean Arthur comedy? You're right about them trying to pick one sample for directors or a series, which makes sense (except for people like Spielberg who get many). So we get Sullivan's Travels for Preston Sturges instead of movies I like better like the unsung Easy Living. I can get snotty about movies but frankly there are many of my all time favorite movies on the list, and most are from the 1930s and 1970s. And there are so many I love that couldn't make the list and I understand why but it's just so hard to make any kind of list!!!! P.S. my favorite genre is what a movie book once called "fast talking dames."

I keep posting about movies before there's a thread about them. So I'll repeat that I love Gene Hackman with a fiery passion. He's always interesting to watch and makes movies better. And we will get to see him even younger when we get to Bonnie & Clyde. I love the French Connection for all its imperfections.

I find it a bit heartbreaking to watch Marilyn in that, but I have a soft spot for the movie. I didn't care for Sullivan's Travels but I'm willing to try again because maybe I was too young when I saw it.

When I was a kid, I was such a huge fan of F&G. Then once in a while they would run a color movie musical where Fred appeared without Ginger and I'd be devastated. I watched so many old movies on TV when I was little. I didn't have great taste but I had very strong opinions. Local TV would run things in a series too, sometimes loosely related. But some weeks would be Elvis weeks or Frankie and Annette beach movies. So it was good news when it was F&G or Marx Bros week.

I think Ginger and her mom were closely aligned, though her mom was the mouthpiece and Ginger could keep up the super sweet image. Ginger was in her mid to late 30s, she was married, her career was on the decline -- she wasn't a teenager with a runaway parent. But this is based on vague memories of things I read a long time ago -- I have no references to cite.

Bless you for mentioning Edward Everett Horton. I haven't posted in this thread because I complained so much about Swing Time, in the other threads, in anticipation, just dreading when it would come. In summary, a Fred and Ginger movie without Horton is like Marx Bros without Margaret Dumont. For people who hated Swing Time, it's probably a waste of time to try another F&G movie. But if you like them, and I have since I was a little girl, pre cable, when they ran old movies on our local TV, then it has some good scenes but it's a movie I can never watch front to back when TCM re-runs all the major F&G movies around New Years Day. It has F&G but the other characters are subpar. I prefer the Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet, and Shall We Dance. They are all silly, but they are a better kind of silly. I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but did they mention what a horrible person Ginger Rogers was--with the anti-communist stuff? I can hold on to my childhood love of F&G but I want nothing to do with her outside their major movies. And if you want to see some better dancing, look up Eleanor Powell on youtube.

I saw Purple Noon at a retro theater, and I was disappointed. I guess maybe I'd heard too much hype, because that sort of movie is right up my alley. I voted yes, though I agree that it gets slow in the second half. When Ripley was released, I was sure it would duck the homosexual overtones issue, and then I found the movie refreshing. It was talked about on the podcast, but it really did stand out at the time. And as silly as it seemed, Matt Damon seemed a bit brave when he took this role. It was the first time I saw Jude Law, and he made a huge impression. Every single movie I saw him in after that was disappointing though. Damon is flawed but much better than Law. Starting with his memorable role in Courage Under Fire, then his star-making performances, the first two seasons of Project Greenlight, I was along for the ride for a long time. He could redeem himself (with me) if he would quit giving interviews for a while. I've been watching or re-watching everything Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and I hit Ripley a couple of months ago. He was amazing, stole the movie in my opinion, and my heart never stops breaking over our loss.

I love Gene Hackman with a passion I cannot explain. French Connection is on HBO. I went on a cruise once and the itinerary showed separate meetings for "Friends of Bill" and "Friends of Dorothy."

Here's why I think Sandy was wearing shiny disco pants in a 50's themed movie: Fifties nostalgia was huge in the 1970s. I was in the Brownies when Happy Days came out and too young for American Graffiti. But it was big among slightly older kids and it stuck. When we had a school function with some kind of theme it was likely to be Fifties themed so we could wear poodle skirts and saddle shoes. Disco was around and getting popular before Saturday Night Fever. I was in junior high when Saturday Night Fever (and Grease) were released as films. We were too young to see SNF but we knew the soundtrack. The two soundtracks were the most played albums among my friends. And you were as sure to want to try to do the moves to Greased Lightning as you were to try to hustle. It's crazy that the movies came out close together because I feel like Grease was influenced by SNF -- probably the Alan Carr influence? Less so Robert Stigwood (remember Sgt. Pepper's -- I never saw it). I think Grease the film wasn't the product of thoughtful artists but rather a conglomeration of things that were working well at the time, designed to make money, and it succeeded wildly by that measure. SNF is huge. Take some of that and make a film that kids can see. You have the Fifties nostalgia, buy the rights to a popular musical, and when Sandy goes bad she turns into a 70s disco queen, even though it makes no sense in that movie. I know there wasn't a lot of time between the movies but the same producers -- they had to be thinking about how they could get a little disco glam in Grease. I had friends who sadly bought those pants (no one had Olivia Newton John's waist), to be worn with a slim belt that looked like shiny gold scales but was actually plastic. And we all bought Candies shoes that looked like hers, which were a fad like jellies or crocs would be later. Wildly inappropriate clothing to wear to junior high dances but we did. And then came Thank God It's Friday and then Can't Stop the Music -- by then he disco craze was dying and the movie was horrible. I think the characters are cartoons because that's the point. And maybe I misunderstood the podcast but that hot dog film at the drive in is the retro one that really played at drive ins for years.

I mostly agreed with Adam's take on Hairspray--actually most of what he said. I like John Waters as a columnist/interview guest than as a filmmaker, but however you feel it's his viewpoint and I don't think he was making or trying to make a sweet movie. I think he finally had a large enough profile to make a bigger movie and he stacked it with celebrities to wink at the audience. I think it is campy (and largely not sincere) and I don't think camp is bad. And I agree with your take on the African American characters.

Holiday Inn is the worst! But I absolutely hate Bing Crosby. I'll try to wait for my full rant till they post the podcast for Swing Time, but I'd take Top Hat over Swing Time. The entire plot, dance numbers, etc are subpar in Swing Time, other than the one where he pretends she's teaching him to dance. And it doesn't have Edward Everett Horton! A Fred and Ginger movie without him is like the Marx Bros. w/o Margaret Dumont. The best part of the studio system movies is maybe the way character actors are reused. But Follow the Fleet and Gay Divorcee and Shall We Dance are all better than Swing Time, and not just because of EEH. (also the guy who plays the fashion designer in Top Hat plays the gigolo in Gay Divorcee!) WTF Swing Time.

I wish they weren't doing Swing Time next. There are several better Fred and Ginger movies. Better songs. Better plots. And none of them have Fred in blackface. That AFI list is crap!

I saw Thelma and Louise during its initial theatrical run. When it ended, my friend turned to me and said "I'll bet you liked it because it ended badly." But we both agreed that, holy shit, who was that gorgeous guy who stole the movie. In the next few years, I remember tabloid crap about who he was dating, was he gay (a rumor that used to follow around most attractive male actors). He had some misses but as early as True Romance I liked that he seemed to want to take interesting roles rather than making the most obvious choices. The positive comments during the podcast about Interview with the Vampire make me sort of want to give that a second chance. I don't remember much except that I hated it. But I'm sure I went in hostile. Every single woman I knew in college was obsessed with the books so I had tried to read the first one. And then all the hype around the movie -- There's no way I gave that movie a fair chance.

I thought it wasn't but I just watched part of the ending and that looked familiar. And it makes sense that it had to have a pretty high profile for me to see it where I saw it. We eventually get foreign movies that were nominated for big awards. I used to see many movies with a particular friend and we tended to see war-related movies where the story being told was hopeless/sad. So I saw quite a few movies with WWI connections. The WWII movies were usually about the holocaust, not big battles. I saw all these great movies that I think most people don't remember, like I remember loving The Nasty Girl (nothing ticks more boxes than a movie about exposing holocaust deniers). There are so many movies and TV shows that are not about WWI but take place between the wars and you can feel the huge impact WWI had in the UK. Like Chariots of Fire referring to a whole generation of promising men being wiped out and others bearing signs of having been gassed or mutilated. It is largely ignored in the US, which is a shame because we have had so much WWII coverage and how can you understand WWII without knowing about WWI? My mom's scariest childhood story was of a man in her neighborhood in a big US city who had been gassed in WWI and was never the same, but I suspect the influenza had a bigger impact in the US than the war. But back to the UK-Upstairs, Downstairs references the Titanic, WWI, and influenza!

I swear I saw a WWI movie about Wilfred Owen that was a Welsh language movie with subtitles. I remember the theater where I saw it and who I saw it with, but not the name of the movie. I haven't listened to the podcast yet but the WWI talk has me intrigued so maybe I'll listen tomorrow. Has anyone mentioned that the best WWI depiction is surely Blackadder's? [Edit: So now I've listened to the podcast and I laughed when the guest said there are no humorous depictions of WWI -- Blackadder is the answer, and it's also one of the more accurate and moving ones.]

I watched about half of Grease about two weeks ago on cable. It's crazy how old most of the "teenagers" look. Mostly because the actors were old at the time.