The Movie Thread

[Maddox]

I watched Saltburn but I don't feel like writing about it.

So instead I'll write about something else I saw recently called 'Beautiful girls' about a piano player who goes back to his hometown for a highschool reunion and catches up with old friends who are all somewhat stagnant in their lives.

The main character is at a crossroads in his life trying to decide whether to settle with his long term partner or not. Making this decision difficult of course is the titular (no pun intended) beautiful girls who are distractions as well as a neverending muse for the fantasies of the male imagination. This aspect of commitment avoiding fantasy is represented in one way by the teenage Natalie Portman. This character represents the idea of the perfect woman (I know this sounds creepy). But because she's so young and out of reach as a consequence of her age, she has something that no other woman has - which is that she's literally unattainable and then an object for the main character to project his idealized fantasy scenario onto. In addition to this, she's also very precocious for her age which again makes the main character think of an ideal future when she's of age and they can be together. Unlike age appropriate women, she has purity but also nothing but potential. All of this spikes the emotions in a more potent way than his actual potential future wife, where the future just looks like a period of ever decreasing enjoyment. The infatuation with the teenage girl also comes across 'wrong' as I type this but I understood this to be not a sexual fantasy but a purely innocent case of idealism and a representation of how the main character was indulging in this limbo like retreat from his real life.

The other type of 'beautiful girl' obsession is represented through the infatuation caused by magazines and pictures of models. In one speech one loserish character talks about how beauty can give you the energy to get through the day meanwhile his actual relationship has crumbled apart and he's not taken seriously by an attractive woman he tries hopelessly to seduce. There was an odd resonance to his speech about his masturbatory fantasies for pin up models and the strength they gave him to endure the hardships in life. Yet the reality he does not accept is that he's choosing to live in his mind rather than in reality. A real relationship is going to be messy and fraught with drama and tension in a way that imagining a beautiful model never will.

This movie shows a kind of small town reality. None of the characters have met their potential in life or become what they want to be. They all seem unsure where to go next. There's this sense of not having made up one's mind in the movie. But alongside the group of buddies still have fun together with drinking and videogames or singalongs at the local pub. It reminds me of what actually hanging out and drinking with my friends in my hometown felt like. Sure there's a lot of bigger issues to push to the back of one's mind (often with the aid of alcohol) but there can also be camaradarie in doing that.

Great write-up. Each of the characters is going through conflict in their life, but it's Timothy Hutton's character storyline that is the most interesting of them all. His character is on the brink of marriage, and like you said, feels that his life is about to be a slow deterioration until he meets his death.

The girl he's about to marry is only a "7" and is completely average...and that's not good enough for him. His hypocrisy comes through when he lambasts his friend for having supermodels pinned to his bedroom wall, but he isn't satisfied with what he's got either. Hence the detour from his impending marriage to indulge in a fantasy with a young girl he's much too old for.

Their so-called relationship, while innocent, is something that never appears in American movies. So the interactions with her are unique as this is unchartered territory in the film world: the reactions from her friends and his, his jealousy towards a boy her own age...I found it all very interesting to watch. And Natalie Portman is excellent in her role as the subject of his affection.

 

[Nordwand]

Ferrari was a decent biographical film but wished it spanned over a few decades Vs the whole movie being a snapshot period (I think it was 1957?).

Damn! I was looking forward to that, especially the 60's and 70's. Oh well, better than nothing (and I've still got the Lamborghini biopic to watch).

 

[bubs]

Nefarious (2023) has easily the best acting I've seen in a decade, possibly two.
The lead character's performance is a bit like mixing Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Edward Norton's performance in Primal Fear.



It is the year 2023, and most good writers have retired, so I don't expect good writing or a good plot unless the story is a true story or a remake, and yes, there were some plot points that didn't make much sense, but overall probably the best film I've seen since Old Henry (still cannot believe this one was made in 2021 and had zero females) or True Grit.

Most films bore me in the first 5 minutes. Their pacing is just poor, the characters are annoying or fake, dialogue is bad, and the acting is not particularly strong. This one locks you in immediately, and if you enjoyed the old Damien / Omen type movies or The Devil's Advocate (remember "I'm a FAN OF MAN!") then you will like this. I haven't seen the ending yet but even if they do the stupid "plot twist at 1H30" nonsense that every post-2000 film has, the excellent first half more than makes up for it. It also manages to be morally consistent, opposing both abortion and the death penalty.

If anyone watches, I would enjoy discussing some of the film privately (no public spoilers).

Thanks for the recommendation, I watched Nefarious last night. Very powerful and thought provoking movie, thinking it was going to be more of a demonic possession horror, but it’s mostly a death row movie like the Green Mile or Dead Man Walking. Highly recommend Nefarious as well.

 

[bubs]

Damn! I was looking forward to that, especially the 60's and 70's. Oh well, better than nothing (and I've still got the Lamborghini biopic to watch).

It’s still worth watching but not in the same league as Ford Vs Ferrari or Rush for auto racing films. Add Tallegega Nights as well!

 

[JCSteel]

Back in the 70s there were only good films to choose from.

 

[Thomas More]

Just saw a commercial for a Bob Marley biopic, called One Love, coming out Feb 14. Get it?! One Love is coming out on Valentine's Day! So clever!

Anyway, I would be very interested to watch a biography movie about Marley, but I am completely certain this movie is horrible. There is no limit to the bad ways you could imagine them handling this movie, that could never live up to the reality when it comes out.

It's all so tiresome.

 

[God's lonely asperger]

Back in the 70s there were only good films to choose from.

I wanted to post this idea, but it's just false. They were not all bangers, that's just being overly jaded at the garbage of today.

Realistically speaking, in the 70's and that era, you had a ton of mediocre stuff that was just kind of a reflection of that era. Most movies were like conservative Adam Sandler flicks in black and white, with no brown people.
You of course had gems like Allahfather and Taxi Driver, but Taxi Driver in itself was made at a time when erotic flicks were common! That's why Travis looks at them all the time. It was all that was available (kinda...). This brings me to my point of my parents always explaining to me how they watched movies. If there was no Godfather playing, you would have to settle for garbage. Nothing else to do outside of asking to borrow the village toothbrush, so better watch garbage.

Just saw a commercial for a Bob Marley biopic, called One Love, coming out Feb 14. Get it?! One Love is coming out on Valentine's Day! So clever!

Anyway, I would be very interested to watch a biography movie about Marley, but I am completely certain this movie is horrible. There is no limit to the bad ways you could imagine them handling this movie, that could never live up to the reality when it comes out.

It's all so tiresome.

I thank God that no one clapped when that trailer came up on my cinema. I can only imagine this in Detroit.

 

[JCSteel]

I wanted to post this idea, but it's just false. They were not all bangers, that's just being overly jaded at the garbage of today.

Realistically speaking, in the 70's and that era, you had a ton of mediocre stuff that was just kind of a reflection of that era. Most movies were like conservative Adam Sandler flicks in black and white, with no brown people.
You of course had gems like Allahfather and Taxi Driver, but Taxi Driver in itself was made at a time when erotic flicks were common! That's why Travis looks at them all the time. It was all that was available (kinda...). This brings me to my point of my parents always explaining to me how they watched movies. If there was no Godfather playing, you would have to settle for garbage. Nothing else to do outside of asking to borrow the village toothbrush, so better watch garbage.

Agreed that 70s films, even the mediocre stuff, is better than what's released today because most movies then averaged 100 minutes and they tried to be coherent and entertaining. I like Clint Eastwood but a lot of his films were what I think represents the mediocrity of the time, films like The Eiger Sanction and The Gauntlet.

 

[FrostBITE]

I wanted to post this idea, but it's just false. They were not all bangers, that's just being overly jaded at the garbage of today.

Realistically speaking, in the 70's and that era, you had a ton of mediocre stuff that was just kind of a reflection of that era. Most movies were like conservative Adam Sandler flicks in black and white, with no brown people.
You of course had gems like Allahfather and Taxi Driver, but Taxi Driver in itself was made at a time when erotic flicks were common! That's why Travis looks at them all the time. It was all that was available (kinda...). This brings me to my point of my parents always explaining to me how they watched movies. If there was no Godfather playing, you would have to settle for garbage. Nothing else to do outside of asking to borrow the village toothbrush, so better watch garbage.


I thank God that no one clapped when that trailer came up on my cinema. I can only imagine this in Detroit.

The Hays Code that had kept the sickos in line from roughly the early 1930s to the late 1960s was dropped, and the degeneracy arrived very quickly. In 1969, the Academy Awards selected the first "X" rated Best Picture winner, Midnight Cowboy, about a male prostitute. The end of the Code did allow for darker subjects to be explored, resulting in some genuine masterpieces like The Godfather. What ended up happening though was that the older generation and those more traditionally-minded stayed home and watched TV, which was still largely limited to the Big Three networks of ABC, CBS, NBC, plus PBS. You were guaranteed to not encounter nudity or profanity. The networks capitalized on this and produced shows like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie, the kind of programming the entire family could enjoy.

In the 1980s, the combination of the Boomers becoming yuppies and having kids, the AIDS crisis, and doubts in liberalism led to the election of Ronald Reagan and a swing back to a certain conservatism. Michael J. Fox rose to fame on a TV sitcom called Family Ties where he played the conservative son to ex-hippie parents. We're in a period like that now, with more Zoomers trending conservative than expected (e.g., Nick Fuentes). It's going to be interesting seeing what happens when this generation gains more political clout. They're already beginning to dominate the culture, for better or worse.

 

[Iacobus]

The Hays Code that had kept the sickos in line from roughly the early 1930s to the late 1960s was dropped, and the degeneracy arrived very quickly. In 1969, the Academy Awards selected the first "X" rated Best Picture winner, Midnight Cowboy, about a male prostitute. The end of the Code did allow for darker subjects to be explored, resulting in some genuine masterpieces like The Godfather. What ended up happening though was that the older generation and those more traditionally-minded stayed home and watched TV, which was still largely limited to the Big Three networks of ABC, CBS, NBC, plus PBS. You were guaranteed to not encounter nudity or profanity. The networks capitalized on this and produced shows like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie, the kind of programming the entire family could enjoy.

Blackpilled had a good video on the subversion of the American film censorship codes, I believe he highlighted the 1964 film The Pawnbroker:

The film was the first produced entirely in the United States to deal with the Holocaust from the viewpoint of a survivor.[3] It earned international acclaim for Steiger, launching his career as an A-list actor.[4] It was among the first American films to feature a homosexual character and nudity during the Production Code, and was the first film featuring bare breasts to receive Production Code approval. Although it was publicly announced to be a special exception, the controversy proved to be first of similar major challenges to the Code that ultimately led to its abrogation.[5]

Directed and written by Jews, about a Holocaust survivor, breaks ground for homosexuals and onscreen nudity and causes the decency codes to be weakened and abolished... I know we're all shocked.

 

[thinkreadwritecode]

I watched 60 Minutes on Netflix today. It featured the guy who played a pretty good character and had the best storyline from Tribes of Europa. They bleached his hair, maybe in an effort to make him look more German since he's half Moroccan and half Serbian? Anyway, I thought they miscast his wife. They made her too ugly and went a bit heavy on the psychotic part of her, with him lying on the ground (dying?) at the end and she doesn't even make an effort to see how he's doing. Like she has no love in her whatsoever and only seeks to deprive him of what he supposedly loves, which we are all supposed to believe is his daughter. The movie is portrayed heavily on the protagonist's side, making him seem totally innocent. I thought the action scenes were not as good as they should have been given the maturity of the MMA sport and action movies. I guess the actor is still quite young and probably did as best as any 23 year old who isn't a martial artist could, he was clearly given the role because of how pretty he is. Overall I would probably rate it a 5/10 since some scenes were ridiculous and the concept of 60 minutes to get to X clearly took most of a day.

 

[Iacobus]

Alright I know this is a cliche at this point but I just found out that the square-jawed all-American Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch, a Belorussian Jew...

 

[FrostBITE]

Alright I know this is a cliche at this point but I just found out that the square-jawed all-American Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch, a Belorussian Jew...

This was me when I first discovered Wikipedia and the ethnoreligious categories at the bottom of its articles.

Before that, ELCs were more difficult. You had to do some searching, and even then, it had to be disclosed publicly in some kind of interview or profile.

I remember learning that the Harry Potter actor was one and thinking, "Now wait a minute. Even in the UK?" Keep in mind that I was not redpilled in the slightest at the time (quite the opposite), but still found it to be extremely cohencidental.

 

[JCSteel]

Alright I know this is a cliche at this point but I just found out that the square-jawed all-American Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch, a Belorussian Jew...

I like this interview between Kirk Douglas and Dick Cavett. During their exchange Dick Cavett invites him to trash John Wayne but Kirk Douglas refuses to do so, while pointing out that they don't share the same views. A gentleman and a man's man.

 

[Tippy]

Watched an old movie from the 80s last night called 'Stealing Home'

In this movie, our main character goes back to his hometown after finding out a babysitter from his past had killed herself.

He spends a lot of the movie reflecting on his youth and on the wild adventures he had with her - smoking and drinking and discussing different types of love. In addition to that, he also thinks back to his first sexual experiences and his early days hanging out with his best friend.

The movie has a certain evocative quality with it's saxophone soundtrack and choice of classic pop hits - it's a huge saccharine hit a bit like eating an entire bag of candy. You feel good for a while and then it gets a bit sickly and you get nearer to the end and just want it to be over.

The movie seems a bit fantastical. In both male losing their virginty scenes, the woman initiates the sex to the hopeless male who has no idea what's happening. While this does indeed happen the movie seemed to be playing on a certain type of male sexual fantasy confirmed when of course our main character also sleeps with the babysitter as well.

It's not clear exactly why she killed herself. From what we gleam in the movie she's jumping from man to man while entertaining the fantasy of course eloping to Europe. In this sense, the film is a critique of liberalism as her attitude (travel and divorcing and being 'free') leads to despair and death. Though none of this is shown or even explained in the film, making it something of a headscratcher.

Eventually the main character goes back to spread the ashes in a way she would approve while also following her desire for him to play baseball again. Maybe this was supposed to be incredibly resonant and moving but for me it was just happening. There was something hollow about the end of the film. The more emotionally resonant scenes took place in the flashbacks where you could relate by projecting your own nostalgic feelings onto what was happening on screen.

 

[Sandalwood Peak]

I know some of you liked it but I just forced myself to watch Killers of the flower moon.

Seems like everyone in Hollywood and beyond lost their touch at exactly the same time. 2013?

Like is the case with every new film, the film fails at the script level. The technical aspect of the film is fairly sound, an achievement for a modern film in itself.

I won’t spoil anything that isn’t in the trailer but if you want you can stop reading here.

The Indian woman in the poster is the main character even though she barely speaks. It seems the primary theme of the movie is “the grief stricken Indian woman” because that’s literally what everything revolves around and her acting the part.

The movie spends 2.5 hours making a pity case for the Indians, with the white men behaving like money hungry weirdos. There’s no high life living as was depicted in the goodfellas, just pure greed with no motivation. The dialogue is very lackluster. “We should kill Green Eagle”, “aye bill we’ll gets it done”. First 2.5 hours of the film is like that.

The music score, which is decent, makes you believe that the final act of the film will have some sort of big payoff where you will feel justice is served. The final hour of the film is literally them getting arrested by the FBI. I’m not even sure how they managed to stretch this to one hour but they did.

Overall I don’t recommend rushing to watch this one.

 

[cheapchampion]

Finally got the chance to watch My Big Break. It is very difficult to find. If you read about the making of it, it was basically blacklisted by Hollywood. Starting with agents afraid that it will show their clients in the wrong light, but I think in general, it just exposes Hollywood in a movie no other movie has. Anything that Hollywood wants to silence, I'm just automatically interested in.

I eventually found it by an independent seller on Amazon, so it's certainly possible. I had been looking for it for about 7 or 8 years, and just kept checking maybe once every six months or so.

Anyway, I thought it was a really good documentary. It is about five roommates living in Los Angeles, four of whom are trying to become actors (Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe, Wes Bentley and Greg Fawcett), and one who wants to be a director (Tony Zierra). Zierra covers their lives over the course of ten years, and the work he did is really amazing. He managed to get footage of casting sessions, preproduction meetings, red carpet interviews. It does show Hollywood about as intimately as any movie I've ever seen, both the highs and the lows. You really feel for the actors, and I found myself very much drawn to Greg Fawcett, the least successful of the group, who was nevertheless extremely talented, maybe more than any of the others. Fawcett is also the only Christian of the group, and there are scenes of him in this regard that are very powerful. I do also think Bentley is the son of a preacher, although not entirely sure.

In a nutshell, the movie really is about dreams and goals, and the lengths we will go to in order to keep them alive. I think it's a solid 9.5/10, and for Zierra's sake, I really hope someday this movie gets the release and support it deserves. He put everything into it, and it's just sad to think that so few get to appreciate that.

 

[Maddox]

Watched an old movie from the 80s last night called 'Stealing Home'

In this movie, our main character goes back to his hometown after finding out a babysitter from his past had killed herself.

He spends a lot of the movie reflecting on his youth and on the wild adventures he had with her - smoking and drinking and discussing different types of love. In addition to that, he also thinks back to his first sexual experiences and his early days hanging out with his best friend.

The movie has a certain evocative quality with it's saxophone soundtrack and choice of classic pop hits - it's a huge saccharine hit a bit like eating an entire bag of candy. You feel good for a while and then it gets a bit sickly and you get nearer to the end and just want it to be over.

The movie seems a bit fantastical. In both male losing their virginty scenes, the woman initiates the sex to the hopeless male who has no idea what's happening. While this does indeed happen the movie seemed to be playing on a certain type of male sexual fantasy confirmed when of course our main character also sleeps with the babysitter as well.

It's not clear exactly why she killed herself. From what we gleam in the movie she's jumping from man to man while entertaining the fantasy of course eloping to Europe. In this sense, the film is a critique of liberalism as her attitude (travel and divorcing and being 'free') leads to despair and death. Though none of this is shown or even explained in the film, making it something of a headscratcher.

Eventually the main character goes back to spread the ashes in a way she would approve while also following her desire for him to play baseball again. Maybe this was supposed to be incredibly resonant and moving but for me it was just happening. There was something hollow about the end of the film. The more emotionally resonant scenes took place in the flashbacks where you could relate by projecting your own nostalgic feelings onto what was happening on screen.

I remember Roger Ebert saying this was one of the worst films he's ever seen. Not sure why as I liked it. Then again, I'm a nostalgic fool for my youth, and this fim has heavy doses of that. If that type of thing does nothing for you, you won't connect with this movie.

Mark Harmon is excellent in his role. When he was a younger man, he had a good onscreen charm about him. Not a leading man type that could carry a film but still, a leading man that had enough charm to keep an audience interested.

As for the babysitter, I seem to remember she was desolate because her marriage failed. I don't remember the movie being a critique on libralism or anything else. It was strictly about nostalgia for one's youth. Billy somehow lost his way during his baseball days and only by going back to his hometown has the chance to find his way again.

I'd recommend this flick if there's nothing else to watch. It won't blow you away, but like the main actor, it has a certain charm.

 

[Rax Moscow]

I gave in and watched Gran Turismo, which apparently is a different film than Gran Torino, after running out of options on the airplane videoscreen at the end of several lengthy intercontinental flights.

It's a true story about a kid who played the car racing video game Gran Turismo (which apparently is so much more realistic than any other racing game and developed by an extremely dedicated Japanese team) and a Nissan racing marketer who recruited him to race against real motorsports drivers. I had no idea this actually happened, but yes, a video game nerd who barely drove a real car at all, competed on Team Nissan.

While there are exceptions, my general rule for movies is:
1) Don't watch anything made post 2000
2) Modern films that are remakes are often good
3) Modern films that are true stories are often good

The latter two are true because people can no longer write well, so if you rely on a pre-written plot or true story, it will be far better than what a diverse team of millennials can come up with, and it's harder to introduce feminism and diversity into true stories. It stars Legolas as the Nissan guy and some guy from Stranger Things as the racing coach. 8/10 and you don't have to care about cars or racing at all to like it (I hate driving).

Oh and I'll second what has already been said about Barbie, though I thought the final line was a bit ambiguous.

 

[cheapchampion]

I gave in and watched Gran Turismo, which apparently is a different film than Gran Torino, after running out of options on the airplane videoscreen at the end of several lengthy intercontinental flights.

It's a true story about a kid who played the car racing video game Gran Turismo (which apparently is so much more realistic than any other racing game and developed by an extremely dedicated Japanese team) and a Nissan racing marketer who recruited him to race against real motorsports drivers. I had no idea this actually happened, but yes, a video game nerd who barely drove a real car at all, competed on Team Nissan.

While there are exceptions, my general rule for movies is:
1) Don't watch anything made post 2000
2) Modern films that are remakes are often good
3) Modern films that are true stories are often good

The latter two are true because people can no longer write well, so if you rely on a pre-written plot or true story, it will be far better than what a diverse team of millennials can come up with, and it's harder to introduce feminism and diversity into true stories. It stars Legolas as the Nissan guy and some guy from Stranger Things as the racing coach. 8/10 and you don't have to care about cars or racing at all to like it (I hate driving).

Oh and I'll second what has already been said about Barbie, though I thought the final line was a bit ambiguous.

I watched Gran Turismo over Christmas. My sister was looking at movies and suggested it. Initially I was like, pass, but then I saw it is directed by Neil Blomkamp who did District 9, and I was on board.

So yeah, really enjoyed Gran Turismo. Agree on 8/10.