WatchOutForSnakes

Good point! And great read. Glad Goetz actually faced some repercussions for the shooting while also being lauded with praise. I guess I can see how the community (particularly a filthy '70s NYC) could hold up someone as a hero for bringing down a prostitution ring.

That bothered me as well!

I get this. I didn't think he was dead either until Paul's interpretation of it made me revisit the idea on my second watch. If we're to believe the ending on its face, I feel like it's a disconnect from the rest of the movie. Everything else in the movie and its plot is very believable, but the hero's welcome is a stretch of the imagination. There's nothing else that in the two hours before that, that leads one to believe this is how the media would see him. That said, if he's not dead, he's definitely going to look for the next person to save, or the next schmuck to clean off the streets. Still liked this one a lot!

I also agree. And agree that Katie didn't seem to be kink shaming him. It was more like, "this is a weird thing that he likes. is it okay for me to not be comfortable with it?" and absolutely yes! He absolutely should have checked in with her about her reaction to it beforehand, and absolutely afterward. A simple, "was that okay?" "did you like that?" would suffice. Communication and consent is key. Feel free to ditch him. Let him be him, and you get tested.

He is 100 percent dead at the end. First of all, the dialogue as the camera scrolls past the news clips at the end is all voice over. That's the only time any VO is by someone other than Bickle's, so it leads me to believe that it's all in his head, and it's his story/fantasy the way we hear his thoughts as he writes. It's like the lies he writes to his parents about who he wishes he were instead of who he is. Second, all the clips are purely his fantasy of how he wants to be seen. It's the voice of Iris's dad profusely thanking him for returning his daughter and how great she's doing now that she's back at home. One of the news clips reiterates how grateful his parents are for finding their daughter. No way that happened. Now, regarding him being hailed as a hero by law enforcement - he straight up murdered people (you don't get leniency for them being "bad guys") carrying multiple unlicensed firearms, not to mention attempted political assassination. I just don't buy that any of the info we get in the VO or by the news clips on his wall were anything other than his own fantasies.

Eve Harrington is the failed "New Coke," obviously,

Ahh! I could have benefitted from a few moments of googling

I haven't listened to the whole ep yet, so I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later (and maybe they mentioned it?), but I've just got to say that by the end of this one, I couldn't stop wondering if Taxi Driver is what inspired John Hinkley, Jr., and why he thought trying to shoot Reagan would get Jodie Foster's attention.

I think I would kinda be okay with that. There's a lot on there that I haven't seen but want to see.

God bless Wikipedia. Here's a link to AFI's official ballot with the 400 films nominated to make the top 100.

I could watch dolphins get high all day long.

So there's this really great interview with Jason Statham on the making of The Meg. Apparently he was pretty disappointed in how little gore there is. The original script had a lot more gory death scenes, but the studio cut it all out to satisfy the PG-13 movie. He says the first sub rescue also was a late addition to the script. He was pretty tactfully saying he thought he was making a very different movie than what got released. As a bonus he also has some stuff about the Fast films that HDTGM fans should enjoy. It's a good read. In particular: [COLLIDER] Yes. I think they were aiming at a release date. I want to jump back in time. Often when you sign on to a movie it’s going to be one way. Then you end up being on set and the movie turns into something else. From when you signed on to what people are seeing on screen, how much changed along the way? STATHAM: A lot. [COLLIDER] Yeah I kind of figure. STATHAM: A lot. Scripts totally different. There was so many different … sometimes you just go, “How did it happen? How did it go from this to this to this to that?” You just can’t keep a track on it. I guess if you have the control to keep it a certain way you would, but you don’t. They have a movie to make. They have so many people deciding on what action stays and what scenes stay. How the characters … In the end they want to put something at the beginning. The whole thing at the beginning where I do a rescue on a sub? That was not in the script that I read. That was all brand new stuff, good or bad. I’m just letting you know. [COLLIDER] I’ll defend that scene by saying it sets up your relationship. It’s a huge plot point in this version of the movie. STATHAM: Yeah, but there was other stuff at the beginning that was … I’m, you know. I’m just saying it was radically different. I guess in some ways your imagination and your own perception of what it’s going to be is its worst enemy. Just because you should always try and not narrow that down and imagine what you want it to be and just go for the ride. John’s interpretation of this is a fun end of summer [movie]. It’s full of humor. It’s a little bit more directed to a different taste of what my own is in terms of I like more gory adult stuff. I’m a lot older but I can’t speak for what this film could possibly speak to a younger audience. I might have made a film that not many people wanted to see. I’m not a filmmaker. I’m sort of an actor that’s going to portray a role. I go there but I’ve learned not to get too attached with your own idea of what something could be.

This looks like it will be amazing! It's available to rent on Vudu for 0.99.

I actually had this thought process run through my head: Why is this little girl running around everywhere? Who the hell is taking care of this girl? *smacks forehead* No childcare, obvs!

Re-watching this, I was really disappointed with how things turned out with Cole. I just can't buy that Bruce Willis helped him all that much. So, in order to make the ghosts "go away" he has to help them finish their business? Does that mean he has to go running around town all the time tying up loose ends for the dead? Also, I feel like they just wrapped that whole thing up too quickly with the Mischa Barton story. You have all this build up to whether Bruce Willis believes Cole, and what they're going to do to help him, and he does one ghost a favor and zip-zap-Bob's-your-uncle, and we're done! Also, just a nit pick about the "mayor's award" at the beginning. Psychologists get awards for research and education. They don't get awards for being great therapists. Why? Because therapy is confidential. It's not like you can say so many people were this sick and objectively measure how much better they got. And why would the city be giving him an award unless he worked for social services? It's a bunch of hogwash just to build up Bruce Willis's cred as a therapist and it's unnecessary. In all, I think the film is just okay once spoiled. I don't think it bodes well for anything more than one additional viewing to catch what you missed. Cole is by far the best thing about it. He was amazing! Otherwise, the characters are really two-dimensional. We don't even get to know what Cole's mom does, or anything about her relationship with her mom. We also don't learn anything about Bruce Willis's relationship with his wife apart from what we see in the wedding video. How are we supposed to care about their relationship when there's no basis to understand how much they loved each other in life. I feel like a lot must have been left on the cutting room floor. I can see how the movie gets high marks for the cleverness of how the twist is played out, how young Shyamalan was, and how it left a mark on pop culture. But top 100? I don't think it really belongs there. I don't see it doing anything really significant or moving the art form forward in any substantial way.

Interesting read! That perhaps explains why Patrick Dempsey was just "there." Maybe he did too good of a job toning down his performance to the point of being the equivalent of a saltine cracker. I'm still disappointed Idina Menzel was scrapped for Carrie Underwood. The end credits song really didn't fit with the rest of the music.

I also agree. His whole purpose was really just to react to Giselle and be softened by her, and be handsome and empathetic enough to justify her falling for him. He was pretty vanilla. To me, the best relationship in this movie was between Giselle and the daughter.

Quick thoughts: This is the first time I've seen this, and I was impressed. At first, I didn't think I could take 2 hours of Giselle, but Amy Adams struck just the right tone that I found her downright charming and lovable. That character could have so easily been just a cloying heap of saccharine. I'd also been watching (and just finished) "Sharp Objects" on HBO, and its quite the contrast. I do so love Amy Adams! James Mardsen was also charming, though he'll always be Teddy to me. The music was fun and the performances were great, though I expected more songs. Also, how do you have Idina Menzel in a musical and not have her sing?! Maybe not to upstage Adams? Lots of lost opportunities there.

Excellent point!

He has a serious car wash fetish!

The good news is, if Simmons is not actively using the trademarks and he tries to sue for payment, the other party can ask the court to invalidate them.

100%

Oh, all the feels of this movie! This is the first time I've seen the entire thing. I had only seen "Singin' in the Rain" and "Good Morning" before, and maybe a few other clips. First, I was really taken aback by the dancing. Oh, the dancing! Especially "Make 'em Laugh." I rarely have such a positive emotional reaction to films, and I think it's because the concentration of talent all in one place. I do also agree that Melody wore out its welcome. It seemed as jarring a piece as the rear projection in All About Eve, and took me out of the feeling of the rest of the film. Regarding Lina, I actually don't think they were trying to sabotage her career. She was clearly not cut out for making the transition to "talkies" because she couldn't act while also making sure she was recording her voice. I read the situation of trying to let her save face by dubbing a more palatable voice versus just replacing her or severely cutting her lines. Doing it behind her back was a bit of a smarmy move because they lacked the nerve to tell her how bad she was, but they were trying to keep her from being a public laughing stock. And FMK: Fuck Donald O'Connor because of that athleticism! Marry Debbie Reynolds because who wouldn't want to spend their lives with her? And kill Gene Kelley because, well, he's the last one left, and he seems to be the biggest jerk of the three. He's beautiful and all, but...

Technically, these are just different classification categories. Something that is "secret" has more sensitive information in it than "classified," so you'd need a higher level of clearance for secret information. Someone can correct me, but off the cuff, I think the main classification systems are: Confidential; Secret; Top Secret; Code Word. As an aside, one thing that gets in my craw about a lot of fictitious portrayals of security clearances is that just because you have high-level security clearance, that doesn't mean you have access to anything under the sun. You only get access to what is absolutely required for your specific job duties. (That cliche "need to know" basis).

I feel like this will change based on my mood, but here's mine also: https://boxd.it/1ZqAQ