Last night Dr. Strangelove was on TCM and I watched it for at least the 10th time. Ripper’s precious bodily fluids monologue was the highlight of this watching–the cinematography, Sterling Hayden’s performance, and the writing are all spot-on. If only someone would script and film one of Ted Cruz’ speeches as well as Kubrick did this one, some shit might be turned into art. So what are some movies that you can watch again and again? I’ll have a drink of grain alcohol and spring water, and you mix yourself whatever you want for this open thread.
Movies
Open Thread: Awesome Movie Review of the Week
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Mark Kelly, in the Washington Post:
Last weekend, my wife, Gabby, and I went to see the movie “Gravity” at our neighborhood theater in Tucson. I’m a retired astronaut who has been to space four times, so I’m usually a bit skeptical of films that take place in space. For me, watching movies about space is like a congresswoman watching “House of Cards.” It’s entertaining, but it’s obviously not the real thing.
Director Alfonso Cuarón does come remarkably close with “Gravity.” I’ve spent a total of 55 days in space so I know what to look for, and Cuarón really was able to capture what it looks like inside and outside of a spacecraft…
Open Thread: Awesome Movie Review of the WeekPost + Comments (54)
I Have to Step in Here
YEAH, HE SUCKS.
There is just too much Pacino bashing in the last thread.
He’s over-rated and over-hyped? I read that shit and then I realize how Dances with Wolves beat Goodfellas in what I will consider the greatest Oscar crime forever.
Fer fuck’s sake. Dog Day Afternoon? The Godfather I and II? Scent of a Woman? Donnie Brasco? Scarface? Carlito’s Way? Serpico? The Insider? Sea of Love with the most fantastic Ellen Barkin? Angels in America?
I’ll give you Gigli and 88 Minutes, but his soliloquy at the end of the Devil’s Advocate and Scent of a Woman alone are screenfilm accomplishments.
If Pacino is overrated in your eyes, I don’t want to hear what you think about Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Alan Arkin or Sean Penn or Robert Redford or Jack Nicholson or FSM forbid DeNiro. Al Pacino is a gift to the country we probably don’t deserve.
Hoo-ah. And I do not claim to be an expert, but his performances have been great. Although, just to give you a baseline, I think John Lithgow as Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp is one of my favorite all time performances. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie is good, too. And Nicholson in As Good As It Gets.
Thursday Evening Open Thread: “The Monument Men”
Via Slate:
… The movie is based on Robert Edsel’s book of the same name about the efforts of seven of the so-called “Monuments Men” (formally, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program), an Allied force of about 400 men and women tasked with locating and protecting cultural treasures threatened by the Nazi regime. In short, these Ivy League art professors, museum curators, and art historians, often without formal supervision, braved the trenches of World War II to ensure the survival of Europe’s cultural history. After learning about this, George Clooney had the same thought any sane person would: Sounds like a movie….
Clooney and Goodman and Damon and Blanchett? Not a big fan of war movies, but I may have to pay for this one. Might even read the book, while we’re waiting.
What’s on the agenda for the evening, in entertainment options or otherwise?
Thursday Evening Open Thread: “The Monument Men”Post + Comments (82)
Late Night Open Thread: CBGB, the Movie
Rolling Stone:
… The two-minute clip gives viewers a look at all the film’s major players, starting with Alan Rickman as the club’s owner Hilly Kristal, who ran CBGB from 1973 to 2006, when the space closed over a rent dispute. “Why would you save for your dreams?” asks Rickman’s Kristal. “Why not live your dreams?”
Stalwarts from the legendary venue pop up in the trailer, too, like Talking Heads, the Dead Boys, the Ramones, Blondie, the Police, Iggy Pop, the Patti Smith Group and others – who are portrayed by Rupert Grint, Malin Akerman, Ryan Hurst, Justin Bartha, Johnny Galecki, Ashley Greene and the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins…
Why do I suspect the discerning music mavens of the Balloon Juice commentariat will not be impressed?
At least the mid-October release is nicely timed to inspire ten million really terrible “Punk” costumes at every suburban Halloween party…
Early Morning Open Thread: “Both Sides”, TV Edition
According to NYMag‘s “The Cut” ladyblog, the proposed Hillary-flicks have some pretty good names attached — “Courtney Hunt, writer and director of the gritty female perseverance drama ‘Frozen River’ “ for the NBC mini-series, “Oscar-winning ‘Inside Job’ director Charles Ferguson” for the CNN documentary. (Plus “girl coming-of-age experts: the Twilight Saga producers and James Ponsoldt, director of ‘The Spectacular Now'” for the proposed Rodham feature film. Hey, ticket sales are ticket sales.)
You have probably heard something about the GOP reaction already:
… Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, fired a warning shot to the major networks this morning in the form of open letters to NBC and CNN, warning them not to air planned shows — a miniseries and documentary, respectively — about Clinton. “If you have not agreed to pull this programming prior to the start of the RNC’s Summer Meeting on August 14,” he wrote, alerting the world that the RNC has a meeting this month, “I will seek a binding vote of the RNC stating that the committee will neither partner with you in the 2016 primary debates nor sanction primary debates which you sponsor.”…
Dave Weigel points out that this is not necessarily a bad/dumb move by Mister RNC PR BS:
… The Clinton hook is a little cute, and the RNC is already using it to raise money and build email lists, but I agree with the general idea that ideological candidate debates, put on by right-wingers, might be more interesting than the “MSM” debates. Ten questions from Fred Kagan or Ed Meese are more likely to burrow into the GOP’s philosophy than 10 questions from Handsome Cable Host of the Week. Indeed, though it was seen as a snoozer at the time, the think tank-sponsored debate of 2011 was the only one that got candidates on the record on drones and Patriot Act renewal.
Let’s not be Pollyannas, though. This is a popular campaign among Republicans not because they want harder questions but because they mistrust the press and think they let candidates be exploited for ratings in 2011–2012…
… also too, the Dems successfully used a (less blatantly stupid) version of this back in 2007, refusing to participate in a debate on Fox News even though Ailes had ‘partnered’ with the Congressional Black Caucus for cover.
Now NYMag brings news that “David Brock, founder of the liberal watchdog Media Matters For America” has decided to publicly View With Alarm:
… Aside from the networks’ reputations, Brock expresses concern that NBC’s miniseries and CNN’s documentary might portray Clinton in an unflattering light, if only to avoid the accusation that they’re campaign infomercials. As Politico notes, Brock is a longtime Clinton ally, and head the American Bridge super-PAC, which “recently launched an effort called ‘Correct the Record’ to protect Clinton and other Democrats from ‘Republican smears.’ ” Brock warns NBC Entertainment that, “a fictionalized caricature of Clinton may make for more dramatic appeal, but diversions from reality are likely to blow back on NBC News.” He also worries that the networks might be pressured into mentioning some “phony scandals” from the Clinton administration, and weirdly finds fault in CNN’s request that the RNC “reserve judgment” on its documentary. “This suggests that [Republicans] might, in fact, be pleased with it which is reason enough to suspend the project,” he writes.
Stop helping, Brock! Nothing that attracts the approbation of Politico will ever be a good thing.
Early Morning Open Thread: “Both Sides”, TV EditionPost + Comments (49)
Late Night Open Thread
Only God Forgives is the most unbearable piece of bleh I have seen in a long time.
God may forgive Ryan Gosling and the producers of this movie, but I will never forgive them for the ninety minutes I lost nor will I forgive myself for wasting the $6.99 or so I spent to rent it On Demand.