GrahamS.

Apologies: I’ve been remiss for not mentioning Bill Skarsgård’s performance. His performance as It/Pennywise is one of the best things about this film. The reason I didn’t mention it before is that he disappears into the role, which is pretty much the highest complement I can give.

It looks like a mediocre TV movie.

Though I do have to admit, it’s a compelling title.

Could you provide some more details? You gotta sell it. Not saying it’s not worthy, but mentioning Johnny Knoxville with no sense of story guarantees I don’t want to subject myself to that.

I confess, I didn’t watch this movie and have never understood the popularity of Paris Hilton. I think she became famous on her show with Nicole Richie right around the time I left L.A. and it seemed like she was getting famous for (1) being rich, (2) playing the snarky blonde, and (3) not having talent besides being rich and snarky. I won’t deny having a chip on my shoulder against her, especially because friends of friends had put work into their craft, were legitimately trying to succeed, not getting anywhere and having severe mental health issues over it. I know—that’s the breaks, but it was a bitter pill to swallow at the time when someone so seemingly shallow (and that WAS the image she cultivated) was what society seemed to celebrate. 17 years later, I still don’t understand why she’s even worth talking about. I don’t know her—obviously—and who knows, maybe she’s a subversive Einstein-level genius. Maybe she’s the female equivalent of Andy Kaufman and was just willing to go REALLY far for a bit. But whenever I hear her name, I can’t help but recall Tina Fey (who I absolutely respect) talking about her in Bossypants. I don’t remember Tina’s exact wording (she was talking about when Paris hosted SNL), but I believe she described Paris as the stupidest, most conceited person she had ever met. The main reason I mentioned this is Tina Fey’s bashing of Paris Hilton got A LOT of press coverage at the time and I haven’t seen anyone mention it (June, Paul and Jason included). I guess this is a long-winded way of me saying I’m not shocked that this movie sucks based on her apparent personality. Maybe I’m just being a hater, but since I give celebrities/people in general a lot of leeway, I’ll happily own my hatred this time. That being said, if she decides to use her reality-tv star clout to run for President, she’d make an EXCELLENT candidate. Who needs political experience? Paris Hilton 2020 (Kanye 2024? Kim 2028?)!

I haven’t watched Jewel in a LONG time, but I did just read an excellent interview with Kathleen Turner in Vulture from a little over a year ago. The interview is really long, so I chopped it down to the pertinent questions to this post, but the whole thing is well worth reading. She definitely cuts through the bullshit and tells it like it is. Here’s the excerpt (and title of the article): Trump’s ‘Gross’ Handshake and the Co-Star She Slapped David Marchese Aug. 7, 2018. Just to go back to working with Michael Douglas. You did three movies with him. How quickly was it apparent that you played off each other so well? Is that something you realize as it’s happening or are you only aware of it later, when you see it onscreen? Well, you can’t tell on the first day. With Michael, and Danny [DeVito], too, I think they saw me as one of the guys, you know? I was willing to throw myself down mountainsides. And when we did the sequel, Jewel of the Nile, the sense of coming back together was so cool. It was nice to be back with friends. Were you surprised or hurt at the way Michael leaned on you to do that movie? That was a bad blowup. I had signed a contract to do a sequel [to Romancing the Stone] but the script for it [The Jewel of the Nile] was terrible. What had happened was that Romancing was so successful that Diane [Thomas], who wrote the original script, evidently asked Michael for what he felt was a ridiculous sum to work on the sequel. So instead, he went with these two guys and what they came up with was terrible, formulaic, sentimental. Anyway, I said no. Then I found out I was being sued for $25 million [for breach of contract]. My position was that, yes, I signed up for a sequel but I didn’t sign up to compromise the quality of my work. Eventually Michael and I talked. How’d that go? He said, “What would it take for you to do this film?” I wanted Diane back, or at least to give input. And Michael did go to her for some alterations. But ultimately I read the script on a plane to Morocco, where the film was shooting, and I was furious. It didn’t have what Michael said it’d have. When I got to the hotel in Fez, Michael and I sat down on the floor with three versions of the script. We were trading pages to get a script that was acceptable to both of us. It was, “I’ll do this if you’ll do that.” It was frustrating. But I do have to say, when I got sick Danny and Michael called and said, “If you need anything, kid …” So they’re true friends.

I saw Once Upon last night with a good friend of mine. My friend walked out midway through it, I liked it. We’re both big Quentin fans but I think the movie was too slow and inside baseball ((or Hollywood, rather) for him. I didn’t care for the Bruce Lee caricature and did find the middle section slow, but overall really liked it. i know Quentin’s films are not usual HDTGM material, but I’m just curious to hear other people’s opinions. I have heard other people say they REALLY didn’t like it. What do you think?

I’m glad they watched those films so I didn’t have to!

Ok, Cameron, I found the link to all the movies that have been previously done. I think I have a good picture of how loose the rules are. I’ll make my suggestion next week and see how it goes!

A more concrete example of my question: could Stop Making Sense or This Is Spinal Tap be considered musicals (because there is music in them) or would they simply be viewed as a documentary and a comedy?

Sure! I’ve only read a few of the past posts. Are there any films I should avoid because they’ve been done recently? Are there any rules that I should know about as to what should/shouldn’t be considered a musical (for example, biopics about bands that have music performed in them, but aren’t movies where people burst into song ala Sound of Music)?

Woke up. Can’t sleep. Found this. Thought it fit this category and it’s FRIGGIN’ HILARIOUS.

Hi all, I’ll try to keep this short. I just wanted to say that I’ve seen a lot of websites where people treat each other HORRIBLY in the comments section (most recently today, in the A.V. Club and Buzzfeed). I’ve only been posting on here since the beginning of summer, which is not very long, but I’ve never been treated that way. Just wanted to say thanks—to all the people who created this site and to all the people who use it—for keeping it a positive, friendly place. I’m legitimately grateful for that.

Hi all. I’m new to the musical Mondays group because I am not a musical die-hard. Here are some examples of musicals I like (from both film and theater); Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd, the South Park movie, The Book of Mormon, Urinetown, Mary Poppins, Singing in the Rain, Ride the Cyclone. A musical that I respect but did not like at all (this might be controversial): Rent A musical TV show that I initially liked but began bugging the fuck out of me by its second season: Glee. I was interested in Anna and the Apocalypse. The premise of a musical + zombies seemed to have that Little Shop of Horrors potential for goofy fun. I tried, guys. I made it halfway through. This film felt like the mutant stepchild of Strictly Ballroom, Glee, Dawson’s Creek, Riverdale (maybe? I haven’t actually seen that one), with some Shaun of the Dead-style zombies thrown in. No, that might make it sound good or at least interesting. Tell you what: picture that stepchild sharting out a half-digested version of the High School Musical films, and that’s what I felt like I was left with. The “kill the Queen!” Sequence from Shaun of the Dead was infinitely more inspired than anything here. It made me wish they’d just made a musical out of Peter Jackson’s Dead-Alive. Perhaps I’m being a judgmental asshole. Perhaps the second half got better. By the 45-minute mark, I just didn’t get it and I really didn’t want to. i hope everyone else enjoyed it more than me!

An 80s throwback. Streaming on Hulu. i genuinely like this film. One joke that time has been very kind to involves a reference to the American presidency. It’s even funnier now than it was then.

Haven’t watched this film yet. I’m just curious if the real Tommy Wiseau started this thread.

Genuinely curious to see what people think of this. As for myself... I’m sick to death of comic book movies...but the Joker is my favorite comic book character. I think Todd Phillips is at best a pretty mediocre director and War Dogs (his most “serious” film) was not good. I truly wonder if he can pull this off. it has gotten some good reviews...and some not so good ones. I can’t argue with the casting—I think Joaquin Phoenix is great—so I’ll probably see it despite my misgivings.

This list is now obsolete—unfortunately—but when VUDU offloads their next batch of free stuff, I’ll try to make a new list. If anyone else wants to add their own suggestions of free crap to watch on VUDU, have at it! P.S. They also have legitimately good movies on there too.

I enjoyed QT’s take on the ending as well. I have to say, while I enjoy some true crime, I’m not big into serial killers/serial killer cults (or whatever you’d call the Manson family). Even though I lived in L.A. for four years, I’m not really familiar with the events that transpired (except for Sharon Tate, obviously) and who was involved. Was Tex Watson one of the key people?

I think this movie is great. It would be a perfect fit for the show. I don’t know why they haven’t done it yet, but they seem to have eased off on their Nic Cage bender lately. I would also nominate Bad Lieutenant:Port of Call New Orleans. Just because these films are legitimately well-made doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be discussed!

I liked the movie a lot, but I will defend people who were bored by it because the 60s era Hollywood is not fascinating to everyone. I think this is Tarantino’s most niche film and he’s a niche filmmaker to begin with. This is a portrait of what made him who he is, and if you don’t share his taste, this is a VERY LONG, mostly shock-value-free film. And shock value is what people expect from him. Full confession: I found the western in the film kind of dull, and I liked the movie as a whole and I like westerns. That was the section where I took my bathroom break because I knew that I wouldn’t miss much. Honestly, even among friends who I know are big fans of Tarantino, this is a hard film to recommend without major caveats. A lot of the people I’ve recommended it to are people who I know aren’t Tarantino fans, because it’s so different. As for HDTGM covering it, I doubt they will, but not all films they pick are “bad” (whatever your definition of bad is—mine would include Birdemic). They are just films that provoke strong reactions. By that standard, this film (and Midsommar) would make for an interesting episode.

As to whether this film is transphobic or not, it throws so many things at the wall I honestly can’t say. This film felt more misogynistic to me than anything else.

“ I killed a lot of guys. They were worthless pieces of shit, but I killed them.” So intones Michelle Rodriguez (in a monotone) as a hit...person(?....more on that in a minute) in the opening moments of The Assignment. The latest film from Walter Hill is fucking bonkers. If you’ve seen his director’s cut of The Warriors—where he inserts comic panels into the movie—know that his love of comic book imagery continues here. He’s also setting up a VERY fractured narrative that hardly ever seems to stay in the same timeline for five minutes. Further more, Sigourney Weaver is playing a surgeon who’s been locked up in a psych ward and is being interrogated by Tony Shalhoub. She is guilty of performing unauthorized and unasked for medical experiments. One of those experiments involves Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Frank Kitchen. Try and follow me through this next part: Mr. Kitchen IS NOT a transgendered person, he is a man. Rodriguez has a beard, somewhat resembles Oscar Isaac, has a flat, hairy chest and possibly a dick (I didn’t look close enough). He/she fucks a woman. After a run-in with his (?) employer, Rodriguez/Kitchen is knocked out, operated on and turned into a woman, much to his/her/their horror. This (and much more) all happens in the first 10-15 minutes. If this appeals to you, this film is streaming for free on VUDU for one more day. Here’s the preview. I don’t blame Rodriguez, but I don’t think she was up to this task (who would be? Feel free to make suggestions. That would make for an excellent game. Natasha Lyonne, for example, would have worked).

I will add that Michelle Rodriguez does put it all on the line here (including nudity) and it’s a performance that takes guts. I just don’t think the part is right for her. Also, when I initially posted this, I couldn’t find the listing for the film, so if my comments seem redundant, that’s why.

I do like the idea (since I haven’t seen the film itself) of Matthau as Einstein. Roxanne was also an updated version of Cyrano de Bergerac. I wonder if the director just likes retelling that story(?).