GrahamS.

By the way, the last movie I watched on Blu-Raywas Toy Story 4. I thought it was fine. I liked it, but thought the seams of the Toy Story franchise were beginning to show. I’d give it a B, not an Academy Award. But YAY PARASITE!

I’m getting this from Metflix on DVD but haven’t gotten it yet. Will give you my thoughts—precious as they are—after I see it (and yes, I know I misspelled Netflix, but really, who gives a shit?).

I think it’s awesome that it’s a history-making film!

Holy shit, I’m SO happy Parasite CRUSHED it. Amazing!

I’m watching the Oscars now. So far, the most enjoyable/cringiest have come from musicians (definitely Janelle Monae but also Eminem) who give electric performances and show how uncomfortable some of the audience is and how just how stodgy the show is overall. Especially during the Eminem set, there were some pans over the elderly/balding/white-haired audience members who definitely weren’t enjoying themselves (even Martin Scorsese looked overwhelmed). I’m glad Parasite and JoJo won the screenplay awards. Also happy Laura Dern won. the show isn’t even done yet, but I just wanted to acknowledge some highlights.

The best dubbing for TV was Do the Right Thing. Instead of MF—which was used ALOT—they said “mickeyfickey” This was especially memorable during the Radio Raheem “D, Mickeyfickey, D!!!!’l battery scene.

Perhaps this theoretical Gepetto is the grandfather or the great-grandfather of the butcher that Paul’s grandmother warned him about. Sure, when Paul told the butcher story, it seemed like a very entertaining tangent. But maybe there are more hidden depths to this podcast than we give it credit for!

I haven’t seen the film but was intrigued by the question “why does Pinocchio have human teeth?” My super-dark theory: Gepetto is a serial killer in his spare time and uses his trophies for his marionettes.

Won’t be able to do this tonight, but am curious as to what this is? I have a very vague idea.

Which probably inappropriate but possibly interesting director (s) would you pick for a Fame reboot?

Or Takashi Miike!

I think the Fame reboot should be directed by the Safdie Brothers (Uncut Gens, Good Time)!

I liked it for what it was until the fake suicide scene (which turned me off because it initially felt like it was randomly tossed in to be “topical”, then when the character didn’t do it it, it felt like the movie was just shrugging its shoulders and saying “gotcha!” Which was somehow worse), then the rest of the movie became kind of a slog. It was such a mix of parts I thought worked and others that didn’t that I i were to grade it, I’d probably give it a C. It’s definitely good material for a TV. Most recently, I’d say Glee was that show. I liked the first season of that, then it began to wear thin.

I have to say—after marinating on this for a couple of days—that this film had SO MANY “holy shit, that was out of left field” moments that I can’t easily think of any film to compare it to. one of my favorite WTF scenes was when Ralph appears to be giving a dramatic monologue and breaking down. The drama teacher wraps up the scene with something like “Careful Ralph, you want them laughing with you, not at you.” Then the scene ends with no sense of context on how to read any of this. Though it did make me laugh out of bewilderment.

I agree that the teen is selfish, but the teacher is equally horrible. one of the the things that stood out to me about this movie is how little I liked ANYBODY, except for Irene Cara, who is rewarded for being likable by being exploited. Also, the OJ girl was easily the best part of the movie. Quick side note on how this film can be read as unintentionally racist: Leroy can’t read, refuses to “speak right,” has an affair with a white girl whom he presumably gets pregnant, leading her to get an abortion that he’s not there for for some unknown reason, is portrayed as a selfish asshole for not sympathizing with a teacher who has only given him shit and not actually taught him anything. it feels like it goes out of its way to check several stereotypes.

Haha! I do like his hair better here.

Postscript—I did appreciate the film showing a very realistic- looking Rocky Horror screening, especially since we watched it recently. Although I’m still not entirely convinced that it looks fun and would add to the enjoyment of THAT movie for me. Who was throwing the water? Where did it come from??????

Love the poster!!! Can’t say the same about the movie. I’ll start with the one positive area—that I legitimately think the film did really well—was the film’s sense of documentary-like realism. It’s well-cast (even if some of the folks look closer to 25 than 16) and the film’s fly-on-the-wall observational approach to the audition scenes was intriguing and genuinely enjoyable. This tone continued to produce interesting moments throughout the film. BUT HOLY SHIt, WAS THIS FILM PROBLEMATIC!!! if I were to try to boil it down, I would say that this film’s greatest strength—it’s realism—is also its greatest weakness because—over the course of 130 minutes +—it reduces its characters’ journeys to exposition dumps. There are simply TOO MANY PEOPLE HERE! And too many issues! So every scene is someone broadcasting—by literally saying aloud— “I’m in therapy! I’m gay! I’m having an abortion! I can’t read!”obviously, it’s not one character saying all of these things but it would’ve been more fun if it was. It just ended up feeling very trite (and sometimes unintentionally racist) to me. i did enjoy the first half because the film is so jarring at points, but when it came to the unearned “I’m committing suicide/oh I’m just kidding scene”, I wanted to tell this movie to go fuck itself. Also, as someone who went to the same high school that Quincy Jones graduated from, that has had it’s jazz band tour internationally, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen freshmen spontaneously bust out a fully rehearsed song in the school cafeteria (I did enjoy that scene and the taxi cab “fame” scene, but more because it was so tonally jarring and felt like it came from a totally different movie than it being actually good). As someone who works in education, I wanted to punch the teacher who insisted the dancer read and speak properly in the face. She never offered to support or help him, she just made fun of him (which is realistic—unfortunately—but also infuriating). Also, was why their conflict drug out over four years? It basically came down to “do better or I’ll get you expelled,” but he never really did better and she never expelled him? Huh? i kind of admire this movie for not painting a bright, shiny picture of these kids’ futures, but it just feels like an approach that is better suited to a to show where the characters can be fleshed out. As it is, it feels authentic but also really, really trite. I’m sure some people loved it and I’m not trying to be some asshole that screams “this sucks!” From the rooftops. I just found this film really jarring and—despite individual scenes—it didn’t really work for me.

I’m doing my best to save my comments, but this movie is FUCKING BONKERS for a multitude of reasons, which I’ll get into tomorrow.

I just saw this. Holy fucking shit, THIS IS THE MOST INSANE NIC CAGE MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!! In a good way. It’s the definition of “bonkers.” Surefire HDTGM material. My Amazon review is 5 stars. I love this film!!!!!

I just want to bump this. This is a very well-made film with something to offend everyone. It would be the perfect HDTGM movie in so many ways because it’s so shamelessly over the top The premise of this pitch-Black comedy/thriller—if you haven’t heard it yet—is that parents are triggered to try to murder their own children when exposed to an auditory tone broadcast over airwaves. The film focuses primarily on one family who has to deal with this crisis. The parents are Nicolas Cage, who’s a lot of fun, and Selma Blair, who is FUCKING AWESOME in this movie. The emotional transformations her character goes through happen very quickly and she pulls them off flawlessly. And she and Cage have good chemistry. It’s kind of a one joke premise, but the movie moves like gangbusters and it frequently is a very funny satire of suburbia and mid-life crises. It also takes more time building the characters than you might expect. Good fun trash!

If we wanted to torture ourselves we could contrast/compare it with the remake/reboot from 200and-something. I’m not endorsing this idea, just throwing it out there. honestly, I doubt I’d make it through the remake.

Never seen it. Looking forward to it!

I watched the 1942 version because it was the only one I could get my hands on. Even though Paul and Amy bashed it, I thought it was still amazing and would argue that it belongs on the list in any cut. I don’t think the voice over was necessary—and would be interested in seeing the original after they talked about cuts that were made—but the film contained such a well-rounded mix of action/adventure, drama, pathos and comedy that it was like getting several different films in one. Also, crackers are a tradition for Christmas with my family as well, one that I’ve grown up with and we do every year. I’m genuinely sorry that Amy has not experienced the joy of reading terrible jokes aloud while wearing a paper crown. Perhaps one day, she’ll get the chance...

Is that picture Paul McCartney’s Iggy Cardust?