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JammerLea

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Posts posted by JammerLea

  3. Posted

    The one thing I really noticed before turning this piece of shit off was that they really tried to overdue the dance numbers with too many dancers. In the opening scene there are numerous cases where there are people who are either not in sync with everyone else, bad dancers, or doing a completely different routine. Grease 1 kept the dance numbers fairly small except for the final dance number, but this one seems to think bigger is better which just isn't the case because there are too many moving parts.

     

    How much of it did you watch?

     

    I think the bowling alley dance scene was the worst. It was cartoony in its execution.

    • Like 2

  6. Posted

    . As much as I hate Grease 1 (and to be clear, I hate it with the fire of a thousand burning suns), I'll concede that at least in that one, the songs are ABOUT something and furthering the plot or revealing character. This one: they're just singing any dumb thing that comes into their head about whatever they're doing at that exact moment. "We're bowling! Tonight!" "Hey! That guy's riding a motorcycle! Which is somehow impressive to us, even though our claim to fame is as the campus motorcycle gang!" Also, does it devalue the purpose of highly elaborate "fantasy" musical numbers in a movie where the "climax" of the story is the high school talent show, where somehow ALL of the acts are really elaborate musical numbers?

     

    I like musicals to an extent, except when the musical numbers just feel contrived like that. Don't narrate what I'm seeing please, give some substance to the story. (Also looking at you, Frozen.)

     

     

    ......wait Grease 2 climaxes with a school talent show? Is this where Disney's High School Musical came from?!?

    • Like 4

  7. Posted

    I've only had my cell phone out for the pre-shows to Rifftrax Live, as they encourage taking pics of the onscreen jokes. But otherwise I put that thing away.

     

    So I've decided to come up with the Eight Commandments of being in a movie theater:

     

    I like these. May I add: Don't ask what's going to happen or other plot related questions during the movie. You're already watching it, be quiet and have some patience.

     

    Directed towards my roommate's mother in and out of the theater, but mostly in it lol

    • Like 5

  8. Posted

    As soon as Paul mentioned someone's name from the board I was like omg and laughing out loud since I already knew what the comments were. My roommate kept pausing the podcast to question what my issue was. I am an embarrassment. The comments this week were really great though!

     

    I think I like the Movie Bitches youtube reviews better, because they discuss things a bit more at length. The little two minute reviews are pretty condensed, so it's harder for me to follow.

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    Not to join the bitchfest, but I've always felt alone as one of the few people I've ever met who fucking HATES Grease. I won't watch the movie, but look forward to the episode all the same. I'll let J-Man, Big Paul, and the beautiful June watch it for me and give me the gist.

     

    I have had an aversion to Grease since being on a school trip stuck on a bus next to a bunch of girls who bullied me who INSISTED we watched Grease on the way home. Idk, I may be at a point where I could give it a chance? But I'm also exceptionally stubborn.

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    If not, and they're only controlling the weaponry remotely like a drone pilot (or virtually), why would the training make them good at holding and aiming a physical gun? Having lots of practice playing Street Fighter doesn't automatically translate toward the motor skills used in an actual street fight.

    Seriously, I wondered about this too during that scene. Virtual reality is more like a video game. Just because the game mimics your movements, that doesn't mean it can prepare you for the weight and recoil that you'd deal with when using a real weapon. And I don't think a normal handgun has a sort of "locked on target" mechanism lol

     

    Initially the whole chimp attacks scene reminded me of Shakma, and then I was depressed.

    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    Oh my god, I thought the correlation of psychic abilities and alchemy was pulled out of thin air, but Carl Jung apparently thought otherwise.

     

    From Wikipedia

    Alchemical symbolism has been important in depth and analytical psychology and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images, after being given a copy of the translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, a Chinese alchemical text, by his friend Richard Wilhelm, Jung discovered a direct correlation between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the internal or psychic processes of transformation occurring in his patients.

     

    I mean, I doubt he thought that alchemists could do telepathy or telekinesis but wow. This would probably explain why Jobe was getting bombarded by the circles of alchemic symbols at the beginning of his VR tests. Too bad they don't really explain it clearly to the audience lol

    • Like 5

  12. Posted

    You're very right about that dumb gas station! I went to college in the literal middle of fuckin' nowhere and we still had 5 gas stations in town.

    My home town is like a block long and even back during the early 90s there were at least 3 gas stations. There's no excuse for them going to that same gas station all the time.

     

    Or wait... when the lady pulls in and asks whatshisname to check her fluids... does that imply this is a full service gas station? How many of those were still around in the early 90s? Maybe these people are just all too lazy to fill their own gas tanks.

    • Like 4

  13. Posted

    Finally got to watch the movie and listen to the podcast last night. Wow.

     

    First of all I want to mention that when Timms (Mark Bringelson) appeared on screen, my roommate said he looked like Paul lol

     

    I also agree I thought it was a bad set up that Jobe can apparently build a working lawnmower, but for all other instances is sort of a dimwit. Also, was it just me, or did he not seem as stupid as people treated him?

     

     

     

    Yeah, making Jobe smarter by throwing complex images at him makes no sense. You want to know a movie that had a better computer system for enhancing intelligence? Battlefield Earth.

     

    This movie was just way too early for what it was trying to push. I don't care how many phone Jobe rings, his goal was to get everyone hooked on virtual reality and in 1992 you'd be lucky if most families had a PC in home, let alone the internet he'd require to control everyone, and then VR capabilities. I remember my first internet "experience" being circa 1993 with a friend's father looking up video game tips for me and he wanted to print the info and sign off ASAP, because his IP charged him per minute, I believe.

     

    I know there's the idea that with the internet Jobe has a wider area of control, but concerning how advanced (or unadvanced) computer systems were at that time, his options would be limited. Sure he could get into databases and stuff, but that doesn't really help him attain the goal of hooking the world up to VR. It's stated once he goes digital at the end that he has no control over the physical world, which basically renders his telekinesis useless (ignoring the bogus door unlocking scene), so that's definitely a step down in his abilities. I guess maybe he thinks he can just use mind control on the people he rings up, but again that seems lacking if those people don't own or have access to the technology to get into his virtual reality world, which would require a specific program too. Nevermind areas of the world that aren't modernized. His goal is very short-sighted.

     

    If he is so smart, and smarter than Dr. Angelo as he claims to be, he should switch his VR obsession into technological development. Make VR more advanced and accessible to the everyday person. Patent and monopolize that stuff, while secretly throwing in a bug that will allow him to take control once the world has come to rely on VR as an everyday necessity.

    • Like 5

  14. Posted

    I haven't had a chance to watch Lawnmower Man yet, so I'm staying off the new thread, but I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and managed to survive Black Friday. I had to work this morning and got to see Loss Prevention almost throw down with some guy trying to walk out with merch stuffed under his shirt. Retail is amazing. Can't wait to get some time to relax with the podcast. Maybe tomorrow...

    • Like 4

  15. Posted

    That is like an instant go to reference and short hand for something really sad here in Japan. Why this is a popular children's story I'll never know.

     

    A couple of the manga I read recently referenced Dog of Flanders too, so I've learned "I'm tired, Patrasche" is a thing to say lol

    Yeah, I have no idea how they made a children's TV series out of it. How did they get 52 episodes out of that little book??

     

    If any dog lover has a free ten minutes, a box of tissues, and wants to feel sad I suggest you watch Marimo

     

    I... I'm not crying! You're crying! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

    • Like 3

  16. Posted

    What is something you enjoy (e.g. Movie, music, etc.) that you would think would be generally accepted as something objectively good, that the people closest to you in your life just don't like? And, what is wrong with these people?

     

    ART. I live with my best friend's family and while my friend and I are artistic and work on various projects and sell some of our work, her family has almost no appreciation for it and often get annoyed that we're apparently wasting time and space on what they see as a pointless hobby. Like sorry we have hobbies besides just sitting in front of a TV all day like everyone else in this house idek /mini rant

     

    We're also the only ones who really appreciate bad movies, but I'm not sure that qualifies as "objectively good".

     

    ---

     

    For tearful stuff, the movie that sticks in my mind is the 1997 "The Dog of Flanders" animated movie from Japan. I bought it on VHS at a time when I was like "This looks like a cute anime!" Oh... oh I was wrong. I read the book later and it was a pretty close adaption. They both made me cry. I will forever refuse to watch the American 1999 version, because they made it a happy ending. Ugh.

    I just wish I could find the anime movie again, as I currently do not have a VHS player.

    • Like 2

  19. Posted

     

    Very interesting read.

    So in Japanese, it's just Vampire Kiss, not Vampire's Kiss?

    And why bat & girl, instead of bat girl? I'm loving that bat's tail with a bow on it. What a feminine bat!

    If you wanted it to follow Japanese grammar it would need a possessive particle の (no) between the words to show the Kiss belongs to the Vampire, but being that it's just a basic phonetic conversion, I guess it's not necessary. If you wanted the "'s" part it'd need a ス (su), but bampaiasu doesn't sound as nice? lol

     

    "とってもニコラス!" wwww I kind of want to look that up.

     

    ちょっとエッチなホラー・コメディ Oh my god.

     

    Bless you for sharing Cam Bert. My Japanese is not good, but that was totally enjoyable!

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    I never imagined I'd have to defend this crazy bad movie here. I loved it, and I'll leave you all with a hearty 'Boo-HOOOO'

     

    Nah man, it's a great bad movie, there are so many times I laughed out loud, from his roach-eating (reminding me of when our cats catch and eat a bug), to his Nosferatu-like parade with plastic vampire teeth. That's amazing, and my roommate and I are weighing in on adding it permanently to our bad movie collection.

     

    That said, the stuff with Alva still hits a bit close to home, especially being in a living situation similar to hers, and I think that's the difference for me personally. Yeah, I can separate that it's fiction, so I'm not going to be all "omg how dare you like it!" I enjoyed it too. I don't think anyone is saying that one can't enjoy it, but sexual assault is a touchy and sometimes personal subject, so I understand why people are bothered even if the movie vilifies it.

     

     

     

     

    My roommate and I were discussing how Cage and the director seem to view the movie as a work of art, so we got the idea that there should be a big art gallery with large, looping projections of some of Cage's better moments from the movie. Including, but not limited to (in no particular order:

     

    "Alva. ALVA. ALVAA!" etc

    "ABCDEFGHI-" etc

    "I'M A VAMPIRE! I'M A VAMPIRE" etc

    The roach eating

    Serving nobody coffee in bed

     

    And so on. Clearly performance art.

    • Like 4

  21. Posted

    If we accept that this movie is about a man's frustrations about being unable to fulfill his unrealistic fantasies--especially as it pertains to finding a romantic partner--then his treatment of Alva is the inverse of that. He feels powerless and miserable that he can't be with who he wants, so to make himself feel better, he finds a person he thinks he has control over and does the same thing to her. That's why her being the very last person on the office's ladder is so important to him--since rape is rarely about sex and almost always about power. I actually would have liked for her to be the one to kill him in the end since that would show that she wasn't as powerless as he thought. I guess her power comes from the strength and support she gets from her brother..? Which I admit isn't quite as satisfying, but I suppose it's something.

     

    So basically, Cage is one giant ball of sexual frustration spinning continuously out of control. I guess I cannot disagree that it can lead to his abuse of Alva. It just seemed too dis-attached from the "vampire" transition story that I didn't view it as related. I honestly thought earlier on that Alva would be the one to die, not some random woman in a club.

     

    I'm very conflicted over Alva's brother killing Nic Cage. Throughout the second and third acts as he succumbs more and more to his illness he starts wanting to be killed as a sort of release. Whether it be the metaphoric release from his inner demons and psychosis or release from the grip of the vampire, he wants out. So when he's killed at the end of the film he gets his release. So he basically rapes two women, murders one of them, and gets to die like he wanted. If we were suppose to root for him, is it a positive outcome? Sure he dies, but he gets what he wants and while Alva gets some sort of "justice" via her brother the club victim is left as a cold case. If we weren't suppose to be rooting for him and rather rooting for Alva, is his death a meaningfully outcome to her story when he was begging to die? If he had lived would he have confessed to his therapist like he did in his mind? Was his hallucinatory confession suppose to absolve him to us the viewers?

     

    I agree, this was a very hollow feeling death for me as a viewer. I don't believe it's a happy ending for Alva. I doubt she wants her brother to outright kill him, and while there'll be relief that she doesn't have that asshole chasing after her, she seems like someone who'd suffer greatly from grief. In a way, Loew is getting the ending that is best for himself, he won't even have to worry about being convicted of the murder he did commit.

     

    Speaking of, I'm amazed that while he's making that huge ruckus in the club, no one thinks anything of the massive amount of blood he has on him as he's being thrown out. There's plenty of witnesses, yet apparently no one is able to connect the blood-covered lunatic to the dead girl in the back?? While he's walking around shouting in broad daylight still covered in blood?? It feels like law enforcement is a myth in that world!

    • Like 2

  22. Posted

    Okay, I thought about it as I was going to sleep and yeah...

     

    This movie is awful and certain parts were downright hilarious... while Cage's spiral into madness is in a way entertaining and the mystery of "is this really happening to him or not?" is fairly engaging, the harassment of Alva is simply too much and seems unnecessary to the telling of the story. Like I kept thinking back on how he harassed Alva and there is absolutely no good correlation between his transition into a "vampire" and how cruelly he treated her. It would be different, perhaps, if he stalked her as "prey", but he never sees her as such. He just has this disturbing obsession with making her life miserable. And as a female viewer, that especially is terrifying. Like if I could, I would just split this movie apart and leave only the non-office abuse scenes. Leave in him wearing the sunglasses at work, because THAT makes sense with his delusions. Come on, Nosferatu was less of dick.

    • Like 5

  23. Posted

    I have such mixed feelings about this movie, I cannot properly comment on it. I'm still digesting it. All I can really say right now is that it's hilarious, but also horrific.

     

    To add onto some comments...

     

    I will add that I also noticed Cage removed the plastic teeth during the attack in the club, but I wasn't sure if it was before or after she actually started bleeding.

     

    The "battle to the death" with the bat increases his testosterone level, which combines with his pre-existing arousal and confuses his mind. He then sees the woman out and returns to his room, only to find a pair of panties lying on the floor. Now, the woman he just saw out was still wearing her panties, so in his fragile state of mind, he somehow associates the bat with the panties which leads him to "vampire.". This is where the movie takes a bit of a left turn, since a rational person would never come to this conclusion, but Cage's character is in no way rational.

     

    The testosterone thing makes sense, but what I picked up is that they both get dressed and leave in a hurry then go to the woman's place for the night. Thus when Loew's at work the next day, he's missing his socks. And because I noted the missing socks, I thought the article of clothing he picked up when he got home was one of his socks. I don't have a way to rewatch the movie to confirm this, so if anyone else can confirm it, please let me know! I want to understand the significance of that article of clothing lol

    • Like 3

  24. Posted

    While I get what you're saying, I'd say there is a pretty significant difference between being "flawed" and being a "fuck-up." Flaws can be interesting, but if you're a fuck up as a grown ass adult, you're just obnoxious. That's my problem with the characters in this movie: they're boring, stick figures that I have no desire to be around longer than absolutely necessary. Given an extraordinary situation, a good writer can make a hero out of an ordinary person. Just because they aren't flawless, comic book supermen, doesn't make them any more relatable. It just makes them more insufferable.

    Totally in agreement here. I didn't expect that all or any of the characters would make it through the movie alive, however, the fact that these powers that could make them unique, memorable, or mildly useful, don't ever have that effect, doesn't quite make the cut as a good character flaw.

     

    Also agreeing with the issue of them apparently not honing their skills or learning how to keep their powers on the low-down. When they first get the powers as kids, they are accidentally reading each others minds. Yet when Beaver is on the toilet, he's looking for a sign that Jonesy is still looking for the tape. I would think that having telepathy would be quite useful there, even if Jonesy is still unable to get back to the cabin in time to assist Beaver. It just would make more sense. The use of and effectiveness of their powers is way too sporadic for their 20 years of possible experience.

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

     

    To your first, it occurs to me that maybe they put that in to set up that Beaver doesn't give a FUCK about germs, and that's why the bathroom floor-tile (without the assblood) isn't a deterrent to the Beav.

     

    It's a stretch, but not as high-stakes as the one from that toilet seat to that tile.

    That's actually an interesting connection. If it could have more set-up, I might be able to believe it. Did young Beaver do anything gross? I can't remember if he was the first one down the sewer drain, but that would seem fitting. I was honestly hoping they'd all fall in and get trapped.

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