That Christmas decor of Henry Hill's living room has never left my subconscious.
Holiday movies you watch every year
- Thread starter Renzy
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That Christmas decor of Henry Hill's living room has never left my subconscious.
I see what you mean, but you could also say that about the dad. The mom is the only straight character, and even she has her moments.
For me at Christmas, its watching the old war movies I grew up on as a kid.
So far, I have watched:
- Dirty Dozen
- Dambusters (uncut version)
- A Bridge too Far
- Where Eagles Dare
- The Great Escape
And a couple of John Wayne westerns.
So far, I have watched:
- Dirty Dozen
- Dambusters (uncut version)
- A Bridge too Far
- Where Eagles Dare
- The Great Escape
And a couple of John Wayne westerns.
Slightly OT but there is a very good modern series about the making of the Godfather (original) film. It's on Paramount and called The Offer. Very interesting seeing the director, producer, and movie executives (the film was made by Gulf Western, an oil company) all interact. This was Al Pacino's first big role and I can't remember the big name guy the studios wanted but the director fought for no name Pacino.
It's a very fun series. The guy who plays Bob Evans is outstanding (though foul mouthed). There's a great scene where he is looking for his wife (Ali MacGraw) and finds her shacked up with Steve McQueen (whom she later married). There are some interesting things I learned, such as Frank Sinatra punching out the producer because he's afraid the film will be anti-Italian, the producer being kidnapped by a mafia boss but winning him over after explaining the script, and an appearance by Henry Kissinger.
I'm a big fan of this "making of "genre in general. Mostly because people today cannot write, and these "making of" films are really just true stories, so you don't have to rely on a millennial screenwriter to come up with a good story. Another really good one is RKO 281, about the making of Citizen Kane.
Anyway, neither are really Christmas films but I felt the need to shill them as Godfather was brought up. (there is a bit of Christmas stuff in both movies).
Here's a quick clip of the real life Bob Evans from his autobiography The Kid Stays In The Picture (he even mentions how this was the first mafia film made without Jews). Gonna watch this one next.
That's a great film. I'm glad it was done as an autobiography as Bob Evans has incredible charm which comes through in his narration.
Just ran across this tweet thread saying Home Alone is a full blown Christian allegory. They follow it up with a detailed explanation including pages of the script. The scene when the guy with the pierced hands advises him to pray is a key point in the movie.
Apparently the producer slipped this through the Hollywood process unnoticed. It was years later when a 4Chan guy came forward with this theory.
Apparently the producer slipped this through the Hollywood process unnoticed. It was years later when a 4Chan guy came forward with this theory.
Around every Halloween, I like to watch The Shining. Maybe it's not the scariest movie you can watch but I like Kubrick and think it's a great movie all around. I take the film as Kubrick's recognition that supernatural evil does really exist, and is not merely a value that we subjectively ascribe to things from within our own minds.
Very interesting.
About 3 years ago I was re-watching "The Terminator" movie (1984) on youtube because it happened to be free, with commercials, at that time. I had been confirmed in the Catholic Church for about 6 months, but I grew up Protestant and had already read the Pentateuch years earlier.
At some point it hit me - this is a Catholic movie about Mary, our Lady and the Mother of God - the Theotokos.
So I made a very long comment about the movie, showing that Sarah Connor is a type of our Lady, the Terminator is a type of Satan, Kyle Reece is a type of the Holy Spirit, Sarah's roommate is a type of Eve, and I even explained why Sarah's pet 'Pugsley' had to be the creature it is. Also, why the police captain was not a token casting of a Black person. Rather, he had to be a Black man. (OT scholars will figure out why this is true in short order.)
In retrospect, I totally forgot that the boyfriend of Sarah's roommate is a type of Adam, but in retrospect it fits the movie perfectly.
You wrote "Apparently the producer slipped this through the Hollywood process unnoticed."
In the case of "The Terminator", the (apparently) Catholic screenwriter slipped this script through the Hollywood process because (I am purely speculating here) he used the OT story, which is the ((Tribe's)) story, instead of the NT version.
Anyway, the movie eventually went behind the paywall again, and I didn't save the comment, to my regret. Else I would repost here.
This kind of thing is nothing new. Movies play upon themes that we recognize in our subconscious, sometimes they aren't even shy about it. The new Planet of the Apes uses Noah-like imagery and makes Ceasar to be a Moses-like figure. The new Alien uses Marian type imagery and flips it upside down. Last time I rewatched The Wonder Years, I noticed that the pilot borrows heavily from the Garden of Eden story.
Caduceus
Heritage
"If it costs me everything I own, if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I am going to get home to my son."
No doubt you are right - nothing new. To me, though, the most significant part of it is that T1 was - through and through - pervasively Catholic. Hard to achieve that in Hollywood in the 1980s, even tougher nowadays.
Well, to me the serendipitous part is that T1 is 90% or more Catholic, not just OT hints here and there as you are alluding to in these other shows. Just my opinion, but it's a significant difference.
Earlier I mentioned that Ginger's boyfriend, Matt, is a type of Adam. Adam is the first man, and.... Matthew is the first NT author. I wish I had pointed that out in my original comment.
Anyway, I am not trying for any "one-upmanship" here. I am just happy and pleased that somehow a totally Catholic (and blockbuster) movie got made in Hollywood in 1984, and very very few people ever realized it. Including me, until 37 years later...
The way I see it, everybody wants to write a good story, and what better place to steal from than the greatest story ever told? It's not just limited to the Bible however. Many stories steal from Shakespeare, and Shakespeare himself stole from many sources of antiquity. It's a copycat world.
Even the modern crap is just poor remakes of better source material, like the new Star Wars 7. When writers break the guidelines and try to come up with something new the results are often disastrous, like Star Wars 8 and 9.
According to the thread, John Candy's character represents the Holy Ghost, stepping in at that moment, and offering her an alternative, saving her from that level of desperation. The script purposely takes her to the point of having such a spiritually charged cry, and then saves her from it.
I didn't write the movie, and I haven't had the chance to rewatch it, so I really can't say for certain, but this scene is in keeping with the idea of an underlying spiritual theme.
Speaking of Shakespeare, have you seen the Japanese epic 'Ran', directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1985? It's Shakespeare's 'King Lear' in feudal Japan. One of my all-time favorite movies.
I haven't but I'll definitely check it out. I do know that Godfather 3 was basically King Lear meets Oedipus Rex meets the Book of Romans.
I recommend no children be permitted to watch the ending of 'Ran', when (spoiler deleted). Not for the squeemish.
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This is one of my favorites every year.
