Overrated Movies

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

Sex, lies and videotape.  What was the deal with that?

[zeebo]

Black Swan

Natalie Portman was great, and I'm glad she got her Oscar, but all the psychological stuff was dreadful I thought.  I would have much preferred a more understated and realistic script/direction for this one.

[zeebo]

Field of Dreams.  Wtf?  I still don't get it.  I'll always watch Major League again though.   

[zeebo]

.. It's always good to check your player, though, because neglecting to do that a few years ago caused me to needlessly throw out some irreplaceable early SCTV episodes I'd taped from Nick or TV Land which I thought had gone bad.  I still kick myself a couple of times a day for that.

RGG, as a fellow SCTV aficionado, I must ask ... Were those the complete 90 min. episodes, or the hack n' slashed 30 min. mangled ones?  I was so bummed when they went briefly into later reruns somewhere, since I was expecting the whole shows as originally aired, but some colossal executive ass-clown decided they could squeeze a few more ducats out of the deal by butchering them into unacceptable half-hour chunks. 

This unnamed idiot did not realize that each show had running gags throughout, i.e. off-air jokes that referred to the on-air programs of the sctv world and running commerical bits, etc. and so splitting them up killed the whole comic structure.  Anyway, just wondering if they were ever shown in their entirety or not.  I would still love to see them again like that.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

RGG, as a fellow SCTV aficionado, I must ask ... Were those the complete 90 min. episodes, or the hack n' slashed 30 min. mangled ones?  I was so bummed when they went briefly into later reruns somewhere, since I was expecting the whole shows as originally aired, but some colossal executive ass-clown decided they could squeeze a few more ducats out of the deal by butchering them into unacceptable half-hour chunks. 

This unnamed idiot did not realize that each show had running gags throughout, i.e. off-air jokes that referred to the on-air programs of the sctv world and running commerical bits, etc. and so splitting them up killed the whole comic structure.  Anyway, just wondering if they were ever shown in their entirety or not.  I would still love to see them again like that.

It was much worse than that.  They were uncut episodes from the first and second seasons, not the chopped up syndicated abominations.  I threw them out when I heard they were putting the shows on DVD, because I thought they would include everything.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much demand, so they released only four sets that included hardly any of the early material I foolishly tossed.  The DVDs do have all the 90 minute shows, which are my favorite, although they weren't able to afford to pay for the rights to some of the music they originally used.  That messed up some bits, especially some of the Schmenge Brothers shows, but everything else is the same.  There are also some great cast and crew interviews.  Check Amazon, you can probably get the sets for a reasonable price.

 

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

It was much worse than that.  They were uncut episodes from the first and second seasons, not the chopped up syndicated abominations.  I threw them out when I heard they were putting the shows on DVD, because I thought they would include everything.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much demand, so they released only four sets that included hardly any of the early material I foolishly tossed.  The DVDs do have all the 90 minute shows, which are my favorite, although they weren't able to afford to pay for the rights to some of the music they originally used.  That messed up some bits, especially some of the Schmenge Brothers shows, but everything else is the same.  There are also some great cast and crew interviews.  Check Amazon, you can probably get the sets for a reasonable price.

Besmircher!  Classic TV destoyer!  I bet you could easily get a job with the 1970's BBC

Just kidding, you're alright 

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I bet you could easily get a job with the 1970's BBC.

I wish I could, because that's my dream job, but they never replied to the resumes I sent them in the 1980s.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

I wish I could, because that's my dream job, but they never replied to the resumes I sent them in the 1980s.

Seriously, great happy pancake

[zeebo]

Besmircher!  Classic TV destoyer! ...

I'm guilty too.  I had some obscure 70's/80's anime & kung fu movies which I taped over with a bunch of cheesy music videos back when I was trying to be a hip music dude to impress girls.  Sure I could discuss the latest Flock o' Seagulls imagery at parties, but the price of losing those classics forever was too high.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Seriously, great happy pancake

Happy Pancake to you, too!  Cheers!

[Yorkshire pud]

I'm guilty too.  I had some obscure 70's/80's anime & kung fu movies which I taped over with a bunch of cheesy music videos back when I was trying to be a hip music dude to impress girls.  Sure I could discuss the latest Flock o' Seagulls imagery at parties, but the price of losing those classics forever was too high.

I had my hair like this. Seriously. Music videos were a brave new thing; and tried to be clever...

http://youtu.be/opkzgLMH5MA

[zeebo]

... Music videos were a brave new thing; and tried to be clever...

True, and I love the 80's.  But that era, and the girls I was trying to impress with my knowledge of Oingo Boingo videos, were fleeting.  But weird anime and kung fu are forever.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

True, and I love the 80's.  But that era, and the girls I was trying to impress with my knowledge of Oingo Boingo videos, were fleeting.  But weird anime and kung fu are forever.

Have you ever seen a movie called Tai Chi 2 (originally Tai ji quan), zeebo?  I'm not a kung fu movie aficionado, but I saw it on TV in Hong Kong years ago, and it's one of the most interesting and entertaining martial arts movies I've ever seen.  It's set in the twenties and much of the story involves the Chinese struggle to get out from under the political influence and the opium trade of the British.  What really makes it, though, is that the protagonist has a long pigtail that he very effectively incorporates into his fighting style, and every time somebody makes trouble for him, the end of it starts twitching reflexively.  It's great!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117821/

[pate]

... I love the 80's.  ...

Who can forget GoatBoy?

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

Talking about martial arts movies, I really didn't see the reason for the huge acclaim of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  The special effects sequences were completely inconsistent and stupid and the rest didn't really seem like anything especially spectacular.  I don't know, pretty much a disappointment from my standpoint.  I would have liked it better without the mystical and inconsistent gravity defying stunts.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Talking about martial arts movies, I really didn't see the reason for the huge acclaim of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  The special effects sequences were completely inconsistent and stupid and the rest didn't really seem like anything especially spectacular.  I don't know, pretty much a disappointment from my standpoint.  I would have liked it better without the mystical and inconsistent gravity defying stunts.

The one good thing I can say about that movie is that I didn't have to pay to see it because somebody loaned me the DVD.  It just seemed like a kung fu movie with a huge production budget.

[zeebo]

Talking about martial arts movies, I really didn't see the reason for the huge acclaim of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  ....

I found it overwrought and painfully slow myself, although the fighting scenes were cool.  Still I think there are much more entertaining martial arts flicks out there.

[zeebo]

Who can forget GoatBoy?

From GoatBoy to Goatse ... We're slipping.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I found it overwrought and painfully slow myself, although the fighting scenes were cool.  Still I think there are much more entertaining martial arts flicks out there.

Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer are really fun movies.

[Gd5150]

Any movie based on a comic book in the last 20 years

over use of lazy cheap cgi...check
lack of creative writing...check
give a super hero a "sensitive" and "dark" side...check

and now you have every super hero comic book movie since 2000

Keep bustin!
http://en.musicplayon.com/play?v=478997
[attachimg=1]

[zeebo]

Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer are really fun movies.

I haven't seen the second one, but I agree on Kung Fu Hustle - great fun.

[aldousburbank]

AvaFreekinTar

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I haven't seen the second one, but I agree on Kung Fu Hustle - great fun.

You'd probably like it then, because they're by the same production company.

[analog kid]

Super Troopers.

Unwatchable.

[zeebo]

Superbad.  This bums me out to say since I like all the actors in it, and the setup, and any movie with a guy called McLovin should be great, but except for a few laughs I thought it fell pretty flat.

[yumyumtree]

My friend Rod seldom watches anything made after 1960, unless, possibly, it has Teri Garr, John Wayne, Ava Gardner or Katherine Hepburn.  This means that I actually got him to sit through One From the Heart.

His main beef with modern movies is that they are too long and self-indulgent and need better editing. I often agree.

I got him to see Godfather part One, made by  famously self-indulgent people.  He said it was pretty good, but too long, and "only the old guys (Brando, Sterling Hayden and the guy who plays Barzini whose name I can never remember) could act."

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

My friend Rod seldom watches anything made after 1960, unless, possibly, it has Teri Garr, John Wayne, Ava Gardner or Katherine Hepburn.  This means that I actually got him to sit through One From the Heart.

His main beef with modern movies is that they are too long and self-indulgent and need better editing. I often agree.

I got him to see Godfather part One, made by  famously self-indulgent people.  He said it was pretty good, but too long, and "only the old guys (Brando, Sterling Hayden and the guy who plays Barzini whose name I can never remember) could act."

I hear Paladin1991 used to have a huge thing for Teri Garr.

[yumyumtree]

Richard Conte is the name of the actor whose name I can never remember.  He was in a lot of film noir and war movies in the 40s and 50s.

[yumyumtree]

Black Swan

Natalie Portman was great, and I'm glad she got her Oscar, but all the psychological stuff was dreadful I thought.  I would have much preferred a more understated and realistic script/direction for this one.

I agree. Disgusting movie.

[yumyumtree]

Sex, lies and videotape.  What was the deal with that?

**SPOILER ALERT**
The deal was sexual awakening of an inhibited and repressed character, played by Andie McDowell. The two sister were actually two sides of the same woman I believe--Cynthia, the hedonistic, rebellious libertine who does what she wants with no regard for others, and Ann, the good girl who does for others and focuses on propiety at the expense of her own needs and emotions. By the end of the film, each has become a tiny bit more like the other. One of my favorite scenes is the very last one, in which Grahame(James Spader) and Ann are talking about the weather and the film abruptly ends.

My only problem was I thought that Ann's quick forgiveness of Cynthia was unrealistic.  Even though they were sisters, in my experience most women would take much longer to do this.  She puts all the blame on John, and to be certain, he was an S.O.B., but he didn't act unilaterally.

I know others who despise this movie, so you're not alone. You either love it or hate it. Like another famous film of the 80s, Nine 1/2 Weeks, it was about sexual awakening, but not everybody  liked it. Some thought it was a waste of time.  It helps if you like Laura San Giacomo and James Spader, which I do very much.