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Cakebug Tranch

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Posts posted by Cakebug Tranch

  2. Posted

    I SWEAR TO GOD IF ANYONE HAS A GOD DAMN WORD TO SAY AGAINST THIS MOVIE I WILL FLIP THE HELL OUT.

     

    This is to me what 'Beauty and the Beast' is to Taylor. By FAR by favorite movie - honestly, my view count is in the hundreds - and my oldest, strongest link to my dad, who showed me this when I was a kid. The only reason I never picked this was because I couldn't bear to see it torn down.

     

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    • Like 5

  3. Posted

    One I thing I thought was odd about 'Rad' was the log-line: in a movie that features some quintessentially '80's music, including a whole slew of Australian royalty Johnny Farnham and Real Life's 'Send Me an Angel', the log-line of this film is:

     

    "A Hometown Kid on His BMX Against the Best in the World. At Helltrack… The Heat Is On."

     

    With a line like that, how do they not include Glenn Frey's 'The Heat is On'? It was a huge hit in 1984, and would have fit this movie perfectly for a training montage. Do you think they couldn't get the rights so subbed in a Johnny Farnham B-side instead?

     

    • Like 3

  4. Posted

    As a kid growing up in Australia, I GENUINELY loved 'BMX Bandits', and saw it on first release at the cinema. I watched it again last year and was astonished to see what I tolerated as a child.

     

     

    Come for the BMX, stay for the fifteen year old Nicole Kidman.

     

    This scene of the BMX Bandits on the waterslide was formative for me.

     

    • Like 4

  5. Posted

    (Also why isn't Clueless on this list??? It's genuinely perfect)

     

    I'd guess it's not seen as classy enough to be on the list, but I'd strongly argue that it's one of the cleverest adaptations of a classic source that we have. That's what I love best about it - is how much 'Emma' is the Trojan Horse that drives what at first appears to be frivolous and silly. I think it deserves better.

  6. Posted

    I don't think you're really understanding the post I then made that you quoted. I've already stated that MG and Clueless have no hatred towards them because I think they're indeed better movies as a whole, so I positioned that maybe we take other movies that could possibly better be set up against Titanic than two comedies that are universally loved. And to be fair, it was Amy and Paul that mentioned teen girls to begin with so I believe that's why we're all focusing so hard on that demo alone.

    No, I wasn't arguing with you, just quoted your most recent post but was contributing to the general conversation questioning the citation of MG and Clueless.

    • Like 3

  7. Posted

    Maybe instead of just blanketly saying this is strictly a movie "for teen girls" we branch it out to mean romantic movies for teen girls. Cause when I started looking at Titanic vs Clueless & Mean Girls the two latter films are comedies based on novels, while Titanic very much is a romantic drama set in a true disaster. That does make it a little harder to comp to other films but maybe we should be comparing it to things like The Notebook? Besides Pearl Harbor I can't really even think of anything quite like Titanic and we all know how shitty PH is.

    Yeah, but I remember being 16 when 'Clueless' came out, and saw it in the cinemas with my girlfriend. I didn't get any stigma that it was 'for teen girls' any more than not personally identifying with Cher and Dionne and their fixation on fashion. For me, I totally signed on to that film because (real talk here) I was blown away by how hot Alicia Silverstone was but also how witty and fun it was. Same with 'Mean Girls' - I can't identify with the girl clique concept but it's witty and clever, with plenty to appeal to men as well. 'William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet' was HEAVILY attended by teen girls when it opened, but that's not dismissed as a 'teen girl movie'. Surely the backlash to 'Titanic' is based in the love story alone, not just the attendance of teen girls, and how it was remembered. I remember being 19/20 when 'Titanic' came out, and I ignored it because it was marketed as a love story that I didn't care much for. I would maybe say that 'Twilight' and 'Fifty Shades' are modern examples of franchises dismissed as being 'for girls', but I don't really get that stigma with 'Titanic'.

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    They could have made this movie a hit with one simple change. Make it Paperboy: The Movie. I think there was enough connective material there already they wouldn't have had to change anything but the title.

    Hell yes, the idea of a group of paperboys adapting their delivery skills to win the Murderhorn (or whatever the damn competition is called)? That's a movie I'm way more on board for. And while we're at it, make Lisa at least a little bit interested in Cru to set up a classic blinded-by-the-new-girl-but-realizing-you-love-the-hometown-girl set up. Link that in with Cru properly delivering Lisa's copy of USA Today, and you have a third act ready made!

    • Like 6

  9. Posted

    Great episode, guys. I have heard about 'Rad' for a long time (nearly entirely thanks to Cameron H.) but only just got to see it last night. One quick addition to Jason's commentary about the 1980's obsession with twins, citing the Doublemint Twins and the Double Trouble twins as excellent examples. As the audience member mentioned, the twins in this movie, Carey and Chad Hayes, are successful screenwriters now, but in the '80's, their pre-'Rad' claim to fame was that they were... Doublemint Twins!

     

    • Like 10

  10. Posted

    Hey, what is everyone's take on Dolly's 'Mary Poppins'-style qualities? Partly I mean the glamour that she seems to have placed on all of New York, who falls at her feet even though she's clearly a scam artist (and black widow, question mark), but also her magical business cards. Do we think that every single card she handed out in 'Call on Dolly' was personalized to each of those random strangers?

     

    Any suggestions on what good things might be on those cards?

     

    Card 1: Mrs. Dolly Levi, toenail fungus removed

    Card 2: Mrs. Dolly Levi, assistance offered in dumping a body

    Card 3: Mrs. Dolly Levi, will drive you to the airport for a 6am flight

    Card 4: Mrs. Dolly Levi, used waterbeds sold

    Card 5: Mrs. Dolly Levi, dancers taught how to paint

     

    76be8dd23ccb1348b86a84abbd0b5b43.jpg

    • Like 6

  11. Posted

    What do you think they were doing while Barnaby was looking at the whale?

    This is the question of the day, no doubt. He's so hung up on that whale and then by the time they get to dinner he's seen it! Surely a better arc for him is his rising frustration that they did all this stuff and didn't get to see the whale? And while Cornelius plants a (arguably non-consensual - consent is ongoing, Cornelius) kiss on Irene, Barnaby doesn't get to fulfill their destiny that "we are not coming home until both of us kiss a girl". What about Barnaby? He has Minnie there and they seem pretty tight, but no kiss. Can we just confidently jump to the idea that Minnie is his beard (a la Season 5 of Arrested Development) and he's just hanging out with her to pine over his real love, Cornelius, getting married?

    • Like 3

  12. Posted

    How are you ranking the movies? Is it based on historical significance and technical achievement or just how much you enjoyed it?

    Gut reaction, for me. Also rewatchability on the ones I'd already seen: I found 'Wizard' way slower than I remembered, for example. Technical achievement obviously bumps something like 'Titanic' up but I just can't get into it narrative-wise.

    • Like 3

  13. Posted

    Reminds me of Russell Crowe in Les Miserables. Not "bad" but not a real singer.

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    I remember seeing the casting announcement for Crowe and thinking 'oh totally, makes sense', but then seeing him in the movie, there was just... nowhere... for him... to hide. Talk about out of your depth.

     

    Hey, someone pick Les Mis one of these weeks! We will have a grand old time tearing that down!

    • Like 3

  14. Posted

    I might be showing my age here, but I don't know who Andy Zaltzman is nor wtf Dick Pants or The Bugle are.

    Dick Pants is the name of John's character in 'Love Guru'. 'The Bugle' was (is) a weekly satirical news podcast where they just make fun of the stuff that's happened this week, filled with lies and jokes. It was started by John Oliver (before he was famous) and Andy Zaltzman, another standup. It's essentially the two of them just goofing off for 45 minutes a week. Eventually John got more and more famous and he had less time to do it, so now Andy does it with guest hosts, but it's less good now. Still, it's a good one, and you can get back episodes on Apple Podcasts.

    • Like 2

  15. Posted

    Since we're talking about Michael Crawford apparently Walter Matthau clashed with him but for completely different reasons.

     

    During a break in shooting the two went to a local race track. There they noticed that one of the race horse's name was "Hello Dolly" and Crawford thought it was a sign and they should bet on the horse. Matthau refused saying it reminded him too much of Streisand and didn't bet any money. Crawford went ahead and bet on the horse and the horse won. This infuriated Matthau and he refused to speak to Crawford for the remainder of the shoot.

    Not to be indelicate, but until I hear some alternate takes on him from this period, Walter Matthau sounds like a complete cock.

    • Like 4

  17. Posted

    He may be the original but he wasn't the best Phantom, right?

     

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mPW16cWaoI

     

    Jesus, look how hard those engineers are working.

     

    My daughter is badgering me to watch 'Phantom' (of the Opera, not of the Paradise) - "when can we watch the Christine musical, daddy?" - and I know the easiest viewing experience for her will be the film version, but I can't quite bear the idea of sitting through that awful thing again. I'm leaning towards the Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary filmed stage version, unless anyone has any better tips?

    • Like 3

  18. Posted

    I reflexively was ready to disagree with you about 'Leave Everything to Me' because I would have hated the movie if it hadn't started with that song. Without that song there wouldn't be any energy for you to be bowled over by. On reflection though I can agree it's unnecessary if Dolly isn't the focus. If they had kept the movie closer to the stage show the song would have been out of place. I can completely agree about 'Love is Only Love'. That dragged the movie down for me.

    I completely agree about the energy that 'Leave Everything' brings to the movie, and to be honest it replaces another, lower-energy Dolly song in 'I Put My Hand In':

     

     

    (also, listen to Carol Channing sounding like an old lady!)

     

    I have way less of an issue with that replacement than the 'Love is Only Love' insertion (and the fucking TWENTY MINUTE Harmonia Gardens epic - so much chewing of the furniture in 'Hello Dolly', good lord), but it got me on guard that something was up and that changes were coming.

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

    Found this on Michael Crawford's IMDB page:

     

     

    (I never knew Michael's original last-name was Dumbell-Smith. Still scanning the page to see if it explains where he picked Crawford from.)

    Every single time Crawford pulled a stupid face as Cornelius, I'd turn to my wife and say "the original Phantom of the Opera." There's so much more of Frank Spencer in his Cornelius - have you all seen 'Some Mother Do Ave Em'? For some reason it was on TV all the time when I was a kid. I get the feeling that Cornelius was his audition!

     

     

    Contrast that with this, 17 years later...

     

    • Like 3

  20. Posted

    I do want to know why so many funny people are in such an unfunny movie.

    There are so many stories of actors who are in classic movies who don't know they're going to be good - Josh Brolin was on WTF recently and said that he and Benicio Del Toro assumed 'Sicario' was a piece of shit the entire time they were making it. Sometimes the opposite is true too - you're working with someone who is a known hitmaker, from 'Wayne's World' to 'Austin Powers', so in small chunks maybe the idea of 'Love Guru' seemed okay. Maybe if Guru Pitka was an SNL character audiences came to love, it might have been a different movie. When 'Austin Powers' was first advertised, it seemed so stupid and unfunny but it hit a cultural moment and was a big hit, so that's clearly what everyone was banking on. I think if you read these scripts in isolation - listen to Paul's episode of 'I Was There Too' about 'Meet Dave', where he flew to California to shoot it, reading the script and cackling with delight over being cast in this sure-fire smash hit comedy (MEET DAVE!) - maybe they can seem better than they are.

     

    I mean honestly, you tell any actor in Hollywood that they can be in a Mike Myers vehicle that also stars Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake? You sign up.

    • Like 5

  22. Posted

    Okay, I finally got to watch last night, and I have a bunch to say, although I'll spread it out over a few posts.

     

    First of all, I felt the same amazed energy at the beginning of this with Barbra's first few scenes as I did with Liza when we watched 'Cabaret'. She's someone I'm so used to thinking of as an older woman, but seeing her fresh-faced and with all that brilliant star power, she bowled me over. Unlike Liza, though, Barbra started to grate on me not long into the movie. As we've all noted already, her character arc is mercenary and unlikeable - she's greeting everyone she sees as though she knows everyone only to acknowledge later that they're all strangers, which makes her constant 'about the town' act more of a façade than anything. The waiters seem happiest to see her (and to her credit she knows all their names, some a little sleazier than others!) but otherwise it seems to be all a big act.

     

    The biggest issue I had with this is that when you see the Broadway musical, it's much more about Cornelius and Irene than it is about Dolly. Dolly is the fixer, the facilitator, and while she's the title character with the giant musical numbers wrapped around her, in the movie, Barbra is front and centre at all times, poking into scenes, with extra songs (they criminally cut one great song - 'Motherhood' - and one so-so song - 'I Put My Hand In' - to add extra solo songs for Barbra), and make it without any doubt Dolly's movie. But, of course, that unbalances the show and puts into great perspective the fact that there's not much to Dolly. No flashbacks, no images of Ephraim, no idea of where she got her money, or what actually happened in the past at the Harmonia Gardens. She's a cypher designed to get Cornelius (and Horace too) married, and putting the whole show on her back means that we just notice how little there is to her. I have way more to say about other things, but this should do it for this one. Boo to the extra songs ('Leave Everything to Me' and especially the terrible 'Love is Only Love' that was cut from 'Mame' and just dumped into this film)!

    • Like 5

  23. Posted

    I’m excited about Obscure, as well! I haven’t listened yet, but that’s right up my alley.

    Oh man, it's so good. All the way through listening I kept thinking, 'I really have to text Cameron and make sure he's listening to this one.'

    • Like 2

  24. Posted

     

    If you don't mind me asking, how did you discover IWTT first? It's interesting that you discovered a WolfPop (RIP) show before an EarWolf show.

     

     

    I can't exactly remember, but it was around 2012 (maybe?) and I read a listicle which ran down 'the ten best podcasts of the year' or something, and the concept interested me. I started out listening to history podcasts mostly (Dan Carlin's Hardcore History was my main thing for a long time) but IWTT got me into comedy podcasting, which led me to HDTGM, then that got me on to the Pod F. Tompkast, then then Dead Authors Podcast, then Spontaneanation, then You Talking U2 To Me/RU Talking REM Re: Me, which led me to Comedy Bang! Bang!, then Unspooled, and the ad on Unspooled led me to Obscure with Michael Ian Black, which is the one I'm most happy about these days.

     

    A circuitous way in but it's been fun circling around all these properties. So much listening goodness!

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

    As we’re all showing I Was There Too love, Paul’s Meet Dave episode really is fantastic. And I’m not just saying that because he co-hosts Unspooled.

    That episode of IWTT with Paul was my introduction to HDTGM! That's a case of the plugs section really paying off. I also discovered PFT through his 'There Will Be Blood' episode of IWTT too (yes, I know, I'm a very late adopter). Such a great podcast, although I'm finding it slightly less charming nowadays because Matt is booking higher and higher profile guests. I loved the earlier ones interviewing non-actors and extras (like the 'Speed' one), but I'm still a loyal listener even as the famous people pile up (last episode interviewed Lisa Simpson!).

    • Like 2
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