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sycasey 2.0

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Posts posted by sycasey 2.0

  1. Posted

    10 hours ago, Blast Hardcheese said:

    Really? I feel that Rushmore is one of Anderson's strongest films, and the one that all of his films since have followed the narrative framework of (parental issues, self-destruction, redemption, etc). It's easily one of his more relatable, less precious movies, as it doesn't feel like it's taking place in a dollhouse but rather in a real world setting. Also, this film features one of the director's best film soundtracks.

    Isle of Dogs has to be, in my opinion, Anderson's weakest work. It feels like he phoned it in by retreading Fantastic Mr. Fox's stop motion technique (the culturally-appropriated film takes place in a futuristic Japan, but he didn't think to go with Manga style animation, instead?)

    Oh, for me personally Rushmore remains his best, but I don't see it showing up on other people's best-of lists as often as those others I mentioned.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    On 7/21/2020 at 1:39 PM, theworstbuddhist said:

    You're quite right about the bias - someone in the comments on that article gives a long list of candidates that are just as worthy as a lot of the films (One for the Money? Not a great film for sure but one of the 100 worst of all time? I dunno.) Because of the way Rotten Tomatoes works, there's very little here that was made before the year 2000.

    It's also important to note that Rotten Tomatoes is not measuring which films people HATED the most, just which films had the highest percentage of critics giving them at least a mildly negative review. Some of these are probably just widely acknowledged as dull or mediocre, not necessarily hated.

    • Like 1

  3. Posted

    12 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    The list skewing heavily more modern is not a surprise at all to me. Obviously, the original list couldn't include modern stuff since, you know, it came out a decade ago. But so many people bemoan wanting "modern (insert genre here)".

    Yes, and frankly even though the AFI could not possibly have included any movies post-2007 their inclusion of 80s movies is pretty poor. There certainly should have been enough time by '07 to find more from that decade to honor. I think part of the problem (at least for them) is that with a few exceptions, most of what endures from the 80s is not what won the big awards. It's genre stuff that the Academy has tended to ignore (sci-fi, action, horror, comedy, fantasy). The Spoolers' list definitely improves on the span of genres represented.

  4. Posted

    12 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    I like A League Of Their Own quite a bit but I'm not sure I'd put it in my top 100 American movies. For a Penny Marshall film, I'd probably put in Big or possibly maybe Awakenings. But I'd also like the list to ideally have women on screen not just behind the camera. So, having women direct make dominated stories is better than no representation, part of me thinks fuck it, put on A League Of Their Own over Big just because it's about women even if I may not like it aa much.

    I think that was part of the logic behind people voting for it. Also, again, the average age range means that there are quite a few women in the group who grew up loving the movie, which is always a strong factor.

  5. Posted

    One thing that did come up was the generational distribution. The AFI list is pretty dominated by 1970s films, while this list is more dominated (not as much, but it is the clear plurality) by 1990s films. I think this reflects the likely average age of the voter bases more than anything else.

    AFI: 1910s (1), 1920s (3), 1930s (12), 1940s (11), 1950s (16), 1960s (17), 1970s (20), 1980s (8), 1990s (11), 2000s (1)

    Spoolers: 1920s (1), 1930s (9), 1940s (7), 1950s (10), 1960s (16), 1970s (16), 1980s (16), 1990s (18), 2000s (7), 2010s (3)

    Also a big gain for 80s films on the Spoolers list, mostly at the expense of the 40s and 50s.

  6. Posted

    1 hour ago, grudlian. said:

    I don't know how much the list being  dominated straight, white, cis-gendered men came up on the Facebook group, but this list only has six movies directed by people of color (Do The Right Thing, Moonlight, Get Out, Brokeback Mountain, Boyz N The Hood, and Children Of Men) and two by women (The Matrix and A League Of Their Own). They also didn't limit themselves to one film per director. There are also still some movies I question how American they are (including Children Of Men).

    I like this list a lot more on a quick scan though than the AFI list.

    No restrictions were placed on how many films could be nominated by director. And I would say that as a group the voters there are roughly as conscious of the issues of representation for women and POC on the list as people are here, though like most film discussion groups yes the majority are white and the majority are male. I don't think it's hugely majority male (like between 70-30, 60-40, something like that if I had to guess).

    I think it just goes to show that when push comes to shove, yes you can improve the numbers somewhat (and some of this is helped by adding some very recent movies that wouldn't have been considered by the AFI at the time they did their poll), but the choices really are a bit thin if you're looking at a historical list of great films. And if I had to be honest, I think something like A League of Their Own is a bit of a stretch as one of the 100 best movies ever. I think it was helped by the voters wanting to get SOMETHING directed by a woman on there, and it's also a movie likely to have been widely seen. At the time The Matrix was made the Wachowskis were not yet identifying as women, at least not publicly.

  8. Posted

    The Facebook group did a poll much like the AFI did, where first nominees were selected based on films often discussed either on the podcast or within the group, then people voted on which should make the list. Here are the results, countdown style:

    100. Children of Men (2006)
    99. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
    98. Boyz n the Hood (1991)
    97. Fight Club (1999)
    96. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
    95. The Sound of Music (1965)
    94. Halloween (1978)
    93. Raging Bull (1980)
    92. Boogie Nights (1997)
    91. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
    90. City Lights (1931)
    89. Mary Poppins (1964)
    88. Ghostbusters (1984)
    87. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
    86. It Happened One Night (1934)
    85. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
    84. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
    83. No Country for Old Men (2007)
    82. Amadeus (1984)
    81. Duck Soup (1933)
    80. A League of Their Own (1992)
    79. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
    78. Modern Times (1936)
    77. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
    76. Airplane! (1980)
    75. There will Be Blood (2007)
    74. Gone with the Wind (1939)
    73. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
    72. Titanic (1997)
    71. Young Frankenstein (1974)
    70. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
    69. Blazing Saddles (1974)
    68. The Big Lebowski (1998)
    67. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
    66. West Side Story (1961)
    65. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    64. The Social Network (2010)
    63. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
    62. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
    61. Annie Hall (1977)
    60. The Graduate (1967)
    59. Moonlight (2016)
    58. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
    57. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
    56. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
    55. Apocalypse Now (1979)
    54. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
    53. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
    52. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    51. On the Waterfront (1954)
    50. Blade Runner (1982)
    49. Die Hard (1988)
    48. Goodfellas (1990)
    47. The Shining (1980)
    46. Rocky (1976)
    45. North by Northwest (1959)
    44. The Exorcist (1973)
    43. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
    42. King Kong (1933)
    41. The Godfather Part II (1974)
    40. Taxi Driver (1976)
    39. Double Indemnity (1944)
    38. Some Like it Hot (1959)
    37. Vertigo (1958)
    36. Get Out (2017)
    35. Groundhog Day (1993)
    34. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    33. The Dark Knight (2008)
    32. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
    31. Jurassic Park (1993)
    30. Chinatown (1974)
    29. The Matrix (1999)
    28. Network(1976)
    27. The Apartment (1960)
    26. Toy Story (1995)
    25. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
    24. The Princess Bride (1987)
    23. Dr. Strangelove or: How Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
    22. All About Eve (1950)
    21. 12 Angry Men (1957)
    20. Fargo (1996)
    19. Alien (1979)
    18. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
    17. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
    16. Back to the Future (1985)
    15. Rear Window (1954)
    14. Schindler’s List (1993)
    13. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
    12. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
    11. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    10. Pulp Fiction (1994)
    9. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
    8. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
    7. Jaws (1975)
    6. Do the Right Thing (1989)
    5. Psycho (1960)
    4. Star Wars (1977)
    3. Godfather (1972)
    2. Casablanca (1942)
    1. Citizen Kane (1941)

    Kane still can't be dethroned!

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    I also love Rushmore and would love to discuss it, but I feel like most people now consider that a lesser Wes Anderson movie (behind Grand Budapest Hotel and Royal Tenenbaums).

    It does seem like they're supposed to be school-related in some way. In that case I also like Dazed and Confused because I love to talk about Linklater. Or if we really want to get wild, School of Rock.

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, Metaluna Mutant said:

    On the other hand, for a film that despises baby boomers, I always found it interesting that contemporary baby boomers 25 years ago loved it. Weird.

    It seems like a number of Boomers became a bit self-loathing about their own youths as they got older. Just think about how many of them must have experimented with recreational drugs in the 60s and 70s, but when they came of age politically they (as a group) favored harsh criminal punishments for drug use.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    4 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    perhaps i'm a hypocrite for not defending House Party in the same way as Mean Girls, i dunno. 

    I don't think House Party has had quite the same staying power, but maybe that's just me.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    First of all, Paul was wrong -- Alan Fudge did not play the nerdy guy who becomes the Mangler, he played Phil the police captain. The nerdy guy was played by Robert Trebor, who is perhaps best known for being on Xena.

    346701_HbMpSSLy.jpg

    Also, this movie is character-actor central! There were a lot of folks in here to recognize from other projects (not just Calvert DeForest).

    Arnold Johnson, who played "Fixer," is best known as the lead in Putney Swope, Robert Downey Sr.'s great cult satire, and from recurring roles on Sanford & Son.

    340?cb=20100630142654 MV5BMjA2YzEyZGYtOWEwMS00YTY0LWFmYjktYmNj

    Gina Gallego, who played Sonia, has quite a long IMDb credit list, but I knew her best as one of Rebecca's co-workers on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

    gina-gallego.jpg

    And of course, the woman yelling from behind the counter in the health-food restaurant was Lin Shaye, who frequently appears in horror movies and Farrelly Brothers comedies.

    check-out-the-creepy-trailer-for-insidio 

    Mary-Lin-Shaye.jpg

    • Like 5

  14. Posted

    7 hours ago, DannytheWall said:

    As far as the German officer not arresting Laszlo, it's my understanding that Morocco was not German-occupied, as part of the southern "Free Zone" of Vinchy France, part of its overseas French protectorates. There was some "official" neutrality to Morocco, although definitely it could never be free from German oversight and presense. Not an historian here, either, but I think there are issues of jurisdiction and diplomacy that make it complicated. And precisely why Casablanca became an important city for refugees. There's also the issue of making Laszlo a martyr, which the film address by having the Germans consider not IF he would be a martyr, but simply which degree and by what means. 

    Yeah, at least within the world of the movie this is made pretty clear, that people specifically come to Casablanca because there is more freedom than in Europe and also a greater chance of being able to escape to safer lands. Not sure how historically accurate to the period that is, but within the world of the movie it makes sense that this is why Laszlo is not arrested immediately. I'm sure they would have arrested and killed him eventually if he'd stuck around longer.

  16. Posted

    For movies made by POC, Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep is a great candidate. It's very indie, though, and the AFI seems to prefer higher budget productions.

    As I've said before, one of the major issues is that opportunities for women, LGBTQ, and POC directors were pretty few and far between until very recently.

  17. Posted

    13 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    I agree with you that Moonlight and 12 Years A Slave would be pretty much guaranteed. I'm fine with all those movies being considered and maybe making the list. I haven't seen Clueless in a long time and I'm curious how well it holds up for me. I think Boyz In The Hood has more recognition and came first. So, it's a more likely choice, but I remember liking Menace II Society a bit more of the early 90s, black teens in south central movies.

    Spike Lee is a tough one. I like him a lot but I think some of his best work are documentaries which AFI (foolishly) didn't allow. Of the rest of his work, I'm not sure what I'd really want to see on the list. I like Clockers a lot but seems like a real outside chance of making it. Malcolm X seems like his next best chance.

    I think Brokeback Mountain is certainly a good contender as well although it might not have won an Oscar either? I know it lost best picture but maybe Ang Lee won?

    I'd agree with Malcolm X being the next best Spike Lee option. Then maybe 25th Hour?

    Ang Lee did win the Oscar for Brokeback. It also won for Adapted Screenplay, I believe.

  18. Posted

    My whole list is here!

    https://boxd.it/1YEKo

    But in choosing movies to take off the list I'm kind of with @grudlian. here in that I wouldn't just take the Bottom 10, I would also add movies I feel are more culturally British than American: Lawrence and Kwai, and I'd also throw Clockwork Orange in there and maybe Lord of the Rings too (though that last one is an especially international production that could be claimed as equal parts American, British, and Kiwi/Aussie).

  21. Posted

    Paul & Amy will always have 1942’s Humphrey Bogart WWII romance Casablanca! They learn the trick Bogart used to make himself a magnetic romantic lead, ask each other what their most used Casablanca quote is, and watch an alternate ending as imagined by The Simpsons. Plus: Ben Mankiewicz (TCM, The Plot Thickens) shares why he thinks Casablanca is a greatest-film-of-all-time contender.

    Join us next week as we say goodbye to the AFI list and tell you what we have in store for Season 2. In the meantime, see if you can cut the list down to 50 must-keep films! Follow us on Twitter @Unspooled, get more info at unspooledpod.com and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. Also check out our live Spool Party episodes on youtube.com/earwolf!

  22. Posted

    1 minute ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    Yea, and since they came out at the same time basically as Butch, they compare well to each other. 

    Yup, there are literally four from the same year that are all thematically similar: Butch Cassidy, The Wild Bunch, Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider.

    I like Butch the best, but as noted above I can see why someone might prefer the style of one of the others.

  23. Posted

    9 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    I don't know if Easy Rider, Bonnie & Clyde and Midnight Cowboy are quite actually Westerns, but they're close enough.

    I'd say they're riffing on Westerns thematically, though they're not actually taking place in the Old West.

  24. Posted

    I like this movie a lot, but it was a bit of a borderline call for me. I think some of that is because this is the fourth or fifth movie the podcast has covered from the same time period (most of them from the same year!) that handle very similar themes:

    Butch Cassidy
    Midnight Cowboy
    The Wild Bunch
    Easy Rider
    Bonnie & Clyde

    So a part of me is wondering if I should really support ANOTHER movie that deals with the Old West and American myth and the deconstruction of such. The thing is that for me, Butch Cassidy is actually the one I like the best. It's not by a huge margin, but I like how it deals with these themes in a kind of interesting and nuanced way: not quite reverent, but not quite ready to burn it all down either. It's probably the most polished of these movies, just in terms of screenwriting and directorial style. I could also see how someone might prefer the messier, revolutionary style of a Wild Bunch or the more modern approach of a Midnight Cowboy. So perhaps that's why all of these movies wound up here: everyone wants something to represent this era, but different people prefer different examples.

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