Cameron H.

I remember watching the Rocky movies for the first time (and out of order ) when I was around 11 or 12, and I remember thinking the first one was kind of boring. However, I realize now how wrong I was. Rocky is a perfect movie. (2-4 are dumb fun. 5-6 I don’t remember well enough, but I don’t remember hating them) I’ve only seen the first Creed, but I kind of feel like if we don’t want him to live forever in Rocky’s shadow, the character deserves to be ranked on his own.

According to that table, women also only represent about 13% of the total number of people rating it on IMDb - which is in itself a bit of self-selection as it only represents the type of people who voluntarily go that site, create an account, and rate movies. What happens when you increase that sample size and broaden its scope to include people who don’t rate movies there? So, yeah, as Bleary suggested, I’ll take it all with a grain of salt. I mean, between The Canon and Unspooled, people (not saying anyone here) have always tended to be generally dismissive toward IMDb user rankings (which is based on ratings). So I’m not sure I agree with using it here as proof of popularity or whatever. You can’t use that list to and try to diminish the importance or worthiness of movies like Shawshank Redemption and Forest Gump and then turn around and use the exact same list to raise up A Clockwork Orange. It’s either a reliable gauge of a movie’s quality and popularity or it isn’t. We can’t pick and choose when want to confirm our own bias. I mean, I’m willing to concede that even if you broaden the sample size nothing changes at all. Maybe I’m just being presumptuous and I’m flat out wrong. All I can point to is, anecdotally, in my entire life, I have never heard an impassioned defense of this movie from a person that wasn’t a dude.

I'm sincerely sorry that happened to you. I know that just describing the plot of this movie to my wife was enough to really piss her off. I hope I'm not stepping out of line or offending anyone when I say this, but I think there is a certain degree of privilege on display when a person is able to look at those scenes and then casually talk about objectivity, art, shock-value, and morality - especially when they may have been fortunate enough in their lives not to have to undergo the horrors presented within. While this might be a fascinating philosophical game for some, for others, it's a grim reminder of how things have always been, and sadly, continue to be. And while I'm sure there are some women who enjoy this movie just fine, I really don't find it at all surprising that the defenders of this movie tend to be predominantly male. Like you said, there are ways of presenting the same themes in the movie without it feeling like cheap exploitation.

I just want to say that while Tubi TV failed me on Perfect Stranger it has a bunch of Holiday Romances I haven’t seen offered anywhere else. I’m looking forward to diving in. It also has the Dolly Parton movie Unlikely Angel which I’m looking forward to to revisiting.

I checked this out earlier (like 5 hours ago) and it was there. I watched through the credits, but was forced to turn it off. I just checked back, and it’s gone

Um, BREAKING NEWS, Daredevil has been cancelled but...A Christmas Prince: A Royal Wedding was just been released on Netflix! I'm happy with this trade.

We watched it last year But, yeah, the ep is great.

For the record: I’m 100% offended by the content. (Which I think is kind of the point) I don’t know that being offended by the content and not liking the movie in general have to be mutually exclusive. I will also confess, I’ve hated this movie since I was a teenager, and I hate it now as an adult. Personally, I don’t need gratuitous scenes of protracted rape to “get it.” I also don’t think the idea that Alex is forced to watch horrible images of rape and violence while A Clockwork Orange’s audience is watching them voluntarily is as clever as the movie seems to think. It all feels like an ill-conceived college film. I don’t care if everyone else loves it and I have no interest trying to convince people otherwise. I’m just speaking my truth.

My comparison wasn’t based on their content. My point was KISS and Marilyn Manson are trash bands that wouldn’t have found success or be remembered at all if it weren’t for their shock value. If you take out everything shocking in A Clockwork Orange, it’s kindergarten philosophy with Monty Python aesthetics. (in my opinion)

I meant in the sense that they brought up in the show. It's all fun and games until someone pushes back against it. Then suddenly it's "Art" and "Oh, but Kurosawa liked it!" Too much shitty "Art" gets a pass just because people bullshit and bully the world into thinking that it's so.

I wanted to call A Clockwork Orange the KISS of movies, but I'm not sure if it even deserves to be called that. At best, it's Marilyn Manson. No one remembers him for being a great musician, just his "shock value." A Clockwork Orange is peanut-packed bro-core, drenched in sophomoric moral philosophy, that titters maliciously behind the guise of "Art." No thanks.

Doesn’t matter. Still wrong. So...

Ugh...

I’m about to listen to the episode and just want to give everyone a heads-up that if anyone refers to this movie as “punk rock” my brain is going to explode.

It’s cool to take a picture of your dead lover if they are really SpottieOttieDopaliscious, right? We watched:

The very idea that I could spend all night cuddled up with Jose Canseco, the original Bash Brother, sets my heart a-flutter.

This is great! It's been in my queue for awhile. It will be great to finally watch it

Well, the gang are the ones who brought up tax season. According to the script I found online, the only time “tax season” is even mentioned in the movie is when Samantha is getting audited and she specifically says, “It’s not even tax season!” Regarding the apartment, I’m not talking about an average family. I’m talking about a person who was fired for making “too much money.” So, either this person who’s job it is to save money is either not saving any money for her and her family or living well beyond her means. Neither of which are really the qualities you would expect or look for from “the best” accountant. So, my point stands that if you’re struggling to the point that you’re willing to take any job to make ends meet, even with your spouse’s cushy new job, maybe you should consider fewer presents for Christmas, less clam soufflé, and no more dinners to fancy restaurants to show off how well you’re doing.

Between this and Sophie’s Choice...

In the episode, the gang seemed shocked that Alley's character couldn't find a new job outside of Santa's Elf - especially because it was "tax season." Except, the movie takes place during November/ December. Tax season is between January and April. I think it's very possible, even with her family connections, accounting firms might freeze hiring during their off seasons. She might just be biding her time until the new year. For me, the real question is why such a supposedly successful accountant apparently has so little in savings, that even with her husband taking a job as the private pilot for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, she is forced to pick up a part-time job? You don't have a cushion at all? What about a severance package? And isn't it odd that despite all their apparent economic struggles, they can somehow still afford chic dinners at fancy, misspelled restaurants? I'm just saying that, yes, it sucks that she lost her job, but maybe the rationale behind her firing wasn't for being "too good" after all...

How about "family film that skews HEAVILY toward children?" As for the airport, I don't really remember the scene, but I will say - at the risk of sounding pedantic - they might have been on the tarmac, but there's no way they were on the literal runway. That's not how airports are set up. They're also the children of a pilot. So while they might get into mischief, they probably had at least a general idea of what areas are safe or not. As for an excuse, I would say that she just lost her long term job for being "too good." I would guess that she's not in the best headspace and probably feeling a bit overwhelmed. I mean, shit, I've lost sight of my son while ordering a cup of coffee I think it's okay to assume that parents aren't superhuman and kids are slippery little devils. Personally, I'm willing to cut her some slack.

Honestly, I wasn't too unhappy with the parenting. Yeah, she really shouldn't have been out there in the first place, but considering they were, I think she acquitted herself just fine. Even letting the kids watch Rocks fight the wolf wasn't a deal breaker for me. Not that it's something a child should see (it's not something anyone should see), but I'm not sure what her alternative would be. She was alone and trapped in a car. What was she supposed to do? Dive on top of them and throw her arms around their necks and covers their eyes while they listen to their dog get mauled to death? The next thing you know, they're going to start freaking out about their dog is dying and that the wolf is coming for them next. So, on top of everything else, she's got to deal with that. Plus, if Rocks loses, she's got to keep an eye on that wolf. It's so important for parents to keep their cool - no matter how difficult - because if your kid sees you lose your shit, then they're really going to freak out. You're supposed to be the most together person they know - even if you don't know what the fuck you're doing. My only complaint about that scene is that nobody seems too concerned about rabies, like, at all. I mean, thank you, Rocks, but stay the fuck away from my kids. Also, regarding the family dynamics, I really liked how they Mikey and the whole Santa Claus situation was presented. All you want is to keep your children is to keep them innocent and believing in magic for as long as humanly possible. I felt really bad for them. The only thing I didn't like was how they kept being like, "Would Santa keep us apart on Christmas?" Mikey's already in a fragile state regarding that subject and you're really just setting him up for disappointment. If something comes up and you really can't make it, you're just going to make it so much worse. ALSO, also, NORAD does a whole Santa tracker every year, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was, like, a wireless, jingle bell equivalent. But even if not, would it really matter if it actually WAS Santa? It's a movie where we hear dogs talk, is the existence of Santa really that much more of a leap? Personally, this is why I feel like you have to be careful when critiquing children's movies. Of course they're ridiculous. They're not for grown-ups. They're for kids. They have to work based on a child's logic. My 6-year-old son watched it with me and ate it up. I mean, job well done as far as I'm concerned. I would go actually cite what Tim Heidecker said in the Odd Life of Timothy Green episode and say you have to judge a movie by whether it works for its intended audience. Is the movie for kids? Are the kids entertained? Then cool, it did what it was supposed to do. I would be more focused on movies like Gooby or Top Dog. Movies that are not only bad, but fail at appealing to their audience.

That and she was picking the presents with warm clothes.